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ELEMENTS 

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ELOCUTION 



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ELEMENTS OF ELOCUTION: 

IN WHICH 

THE PRINCIPLES OF READING AND SPEAKING ARE 
INVESTIGATED ', 

S Nn SUCH PAUSES, EMPHASIS, AND INFLECTIONS OF VOICE, 

A3 ARE SUITABLE TO EVERY VARIETY OF SENTENCE, 

ARE DISTINCTLY POINTED OUT 'AND EXPLAINED ; 

With Directions for Strengthening and Modulating 
THE VOICE, 

So as to render it varied, forcible, and harmonious : 
TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF THE PASSIONS; 

SHOWING HOW THEY AFFECT THE 
COUNTENANCE, TONE OE VOICE, AND GESTURE OF THE BODY, 

EXEMPLIFIED BY 
A COPIOUS SELECTION OF THE MOST STRIKING PASSAGES OF 

SHAKSPEARE. 

THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED BY 

COPPER-PLATES, 

' EXPLAINING THE NATURE OF 

ACCENT, EMPHASIS, INFLECTION, AND CADENCE, 

Copied from the Third London Edition, 



BY JOHN WALKER, 

Author of the " Critical Pronouncing Dictionary," &c 
" Est quodam prodire tenus." — Hor. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

PUBLISHED BY BENNETT AND WALTON, NO. 31, 
MARKET STREET. 

1811. 






s/6 ' 26/S~ 



. 



TO 

DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON, 

IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE 

ASSISTANCE 

GAINED FROM HIS LABOURS, 

THE PLEASURE AND IMPROVEMENT DERIVED 
FROM HIS CONVERSATION, 



THE OBLIGATION CONFERRED BY HIS FRIENDSHIP AND 
ATTENTION, 

THE FOLLOWING TREATISE 

IS 

MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 



BV 



THE AUTHOB. 



PREFACE 



HAVING had the honour, a few years ago* 
to give public lectures on English Pronuncia- 
tion at the University of Oxford, I was some 
time afterwards invited by several of the Heads 
of Houses to give private lectures on the Art 
of Reading, in their respective Colleges. 36 
flattering an invitation made me extremely 
anxious to preserve the favourable impression 
I had made, and this put me upon throwing 
the instruction I had to convey into some* 
thing that had the appearance of a system^ 
Those only who are thoroughly acquainted 
with the subject, can conceive the labour aflfi 
perplexity in which this task engaged me: It 
was not a florid harangue on the advantages of 
good Reading that was expected from me, 
but some plain practical rules in a scholastic 
and methodical form, that would convey real 
and useful instruction c 



viii PREFACE. 

This led me to a distinction of the voice, 
which though often mentioned by musicians, 
has been but little noticed by teachers of Read- 
ing* ; which is that distinction of the voice 
into the upward and downward slide, into 

* In the first edition of this work I expressed myself with a 
scrupulous caution, respecting- this distinction of voice ; be- 
cause, in a grammar written a century ago by Charles Butler, 
of Magdalen College, Oxford, I found a direction for reading 
the question beginning with the verb, not only in a higher 
tone, but with a different turn of the voice from the other ques- 
tion ; and in a grammar by Mr. Perry, of Scotland, about thir- 
ty years ago, I found the same distinction of voice in the same 
case : and, except in these two authors, I never met with this 
distinction in reading till the last edition of Enfield's Speaker ; 
where, in Rule VII. of the Essay on Elocution, instead^ of the 
old direction, Acquire a just variety of Pause and Cadence, I 
found, Acquire a just variety of Pause and Infection ; and 
though in the old Rule there was not a single word about in- 
flection of the voice, in the new one I found the inflections of the 
voice divided into two kinds ; the one conveying the idea of 
Continuation, the other of rompletion ; the former of which is 
called the suspending, the latter the closing pause : — though, 
in a few lines after, we find what is called the closing pause, is 
often applicable to members, when the sense is suspended. In 
these new directions, too, I found the question distinguished 
into two kinds, and the suspending and the closing pause ap- 
plied respectively to each. I could not help congratulating my- 
self, that a doctrine I had published so many years before, be- 
gan to be adopted by so judicious a writer as Mr. Enfield. 
But, when I found it had not only been adopted, but acknow- 
ledged, by Mr. Murray, the Author of the best Grammar and 
Selection of Lessons for Reading in the English Language, I 
found myself fully compensated for the misfortune of not being 
noticed by the Author of the Speaker. 



PREFACE. xi 

which all speaking sounds may be resolved : 
The moment I admitted this distinction, I 
found I had possession of the quality of the 
voice I wanted ; for though these slides or in- 
flections were indefinite as to their quantity or 
duration, they were still essentially distinct, 
and were never convertible into each other ; 
whereas all the other distinctions were relative; 
and what was high and loud in one case, 
might be soft and low in another. Accord- 
ingly I found, upon pursuing this distinction, 
that, provided the proper slide was preserved 
on that word which the sense and harmony 
required, the other distinctions of the voice 
were more easily attained : and if they were 
not, the pronunciation was infinitely less in- 
jured, than if every other distinction of the 
voice had been preserved, and this single 
one neglected. Here then commenced my 
system ; infinite were the difficulties and ob- 
scurities that impeded my progress at first ; 
but perseverance, and, perhaps, enthusiasm, 
at last brought it to a period. 

Without any breach of modesty, it may 
be asserted, that the general idea is new, 



x PREFACE. 

curious, and important : and without any- 
false humility, I am ready to allow, that the 
manner of treating it has too many faults and 
imperfections. Besides those incorrectnesses 
which are inseparable from the novelty and 
difficulty of the subject, it partakes of that 
haste, that interruption, and want of finish- 
ing, which must necessarily arise from a 
constant and laborious attendance on pupils ; 
for, though nothing but long practice in ac- 
tual teaching could have enabled me to con- 
struct such a system, it required the leisure 
and liberty of independence to produce it to 
the best advantage. 



ADVERTISEMENT 



SECOND EDITION. 



WHEN the first Edition of this Work was pub- 
lished, I considered the human voice as divisible 
into two inflections only. Some time after, upon re- 
considering the subject more maturely, I found 
there were certain turns of voice which I could not 
distinctly class with either of these two inflections. 
This discovery mortified me exceedingly. I feared 
my whole labour was lost, and that I had been fa- 
tiguing myself with a distinction which existed no 
where but in my imagination. None but those who 
have been system makers, can judge of the regret 
and disappointment which this apprehension occa- 
sioned. It did not, however, continue long. The 
same trial of the voice which assured me of the two 
opposite inflections, the rising and falling, soon con- 
vinced me that those inflections which I could not 
reduce to either of these two, were neither more nor 
less than two combinations of them : and that they 
were real circumflexes ; the one beginning with the 
rising inflection, and ending with the falling upon the 
same syllable : and the other beginning with the 
falling, and ending with the rising on the same sylla- 
ble. This relieved me from my anxiety ; and I con- 
sidered the discovery of so much importance, thatl 
immediately published a small Pamphlet, called 



( *'» ) 

The Melody of Speaking Delineated ; in which I ex- 
plained it as well as I was able by writing, but refer- 
red the reader to some passages where he could 
scarcely fail to adopt it upon certain words, and per- 
ceive the justness of the distinction. I was confirm- 
ed in my opinion by reflecting that a priori, and in- 
dependently on actual practice, these modifications 
of the human voice must necessarily exist. First, if 
there was no turn or inflection of the voice, it must 
continue in a monotone. Secondly, if the voice was 
inflected, it must be either upwards or downwards, 
and so produce either the rising or falling inflection. 
Thirdly, if these two were united on the same sylla- 
ble, it could only be by beginning with the rising, 
and ending with the falling inflection, or vice versa ; 
as any other mixture of these opposite inflections was 
impossible. A thorough conviction of the truth of 
thi^ distinction, gave me a confidence which nothing 
could shake. I exemplified it, viva voce, to many 
of my critical friends, who uniformly agreed with 
ine : and this enabled me to conceive and demon- 
strate the Greek and Latin circumflex, (so often 
mentioned, and so totally unintelligible to the mo- 
derns,) but occasioned not a little surprise (since it 
is as easy to conceive that the voice may fall and 
rise upon the same syllable, as that it may rise and 
fall) why the ancients had the latter circumflex, and 
not the former. Some probable conjectures respect- 
ing this point, as well as the nature of accent, an- 
cient and modern, may be seen at the end of a 
Work lately published, called A Key to the Classical 
Pronunciation of Greek and Latin Proper Names. 



{ xiii ) 

CONTENTS. 
FIRST PART. 

Page. 
Introduction, Elocution defined, - - 17 
General Idea of the common Doctrine of Punctuation, 20 
Introduction to the Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation, 25 
Inconsistencies of the common doctrine of Punctua- 
tion, 26, 27, 28 

Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation, - - 34> 

Practical Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation, , - 43 

Introduction to the Theory of the Inflections of the 

Voice, ----- 82 

Method of explaining the Inflections of the Voice, 84 
Another Method of explaining the Inflections of the 

Voice, ----- 93 

Utility of the Inflections of the Voice, - - 105 

Practical System of the Inflections of the Voice 108 

Pronunciation of a Compact Sentence, - . .- 110 

Inverted Period - - - - 116 

Pronunciation of a loose Sentence, - - 118 

the Antithetic Member, - 126 

the Penultimate Member, 127 

the Series, - - - 133 

the Compound Series, - 144 

the Series of Serieses, s 154 

the Final Pause, or Period, J62 

the Interrogation, - - 167 

the Exclamation, - - 194 

the Parenthesis, - - "§00 

B 



( xiv ) 



SECOND PART. 

Accent - 

Accent defined and explained 
English, Scotch, and Irish Accent, how they 
Introduction to the Theory of Emphasis, 
^Theory of Emphatic Inflection, 
Practical System of Emphasis, 
Single Emphasis, 
Double Emphasis, - 

Treble Emphasis, - - - 

General Emphasis, r 

Intermediate, or Elliptical Member, 
Harmonic Inflection, - 
Harmony of Prose, - 

Harmony of Prosaic Inflection, 
Rules for reading Verse, - - 

Modulation and Management of the Voice,, 
Gesture, ----- _ 

The Passions, - 

Tranquillity, Chearfulness, 
Mirth, - - 

Raillery, - - - - 

Sneer, - - -?-..-..-. 

Joy, - 

Delight, - - - 

JLove, - - - 

Pity, - 

Hope, - - - 

Hatred, Aversion-, - - 

Anger, Rage, Fury, - - 

Revenge* ".,"•:.-,.",.." 

Reproach, - 

Fear and Terror,, - - 

Sorrow, 



Page. 

215 
218 
differ 222 
223 
240 
253 
254 
266 
268 
276 
281 
. 290 
298 
304 
313 
342 
361 
38-1 

lb. 

38 2 

383' 

384 

385 

387 

388 

390 

393 

394 

39G 

398 

S99 

401 

40B 



( xv ) 

Remorse, - - - . - - - 407 

Despair, - 409 

Surprise, Wonder, Amazement, Admiration, 41 1 

Pride, - - ' - - - - 413 

Confidence, Courage, Boasting, - - - 414 

Perplexity, Irresolution, Anxiety, , - - 417 

Vexation, - - - - - 413 

Peevishness, - - - - 419 

Envy and Malice, - - - 420 

Suspicion, Jealousy, - - 421 

Modesty, Submission, - - -'-..- 424 

Shame, - - 425 

Gravity, - - - - 426 

Inquiry and Attention, - - ' - - 427 

Teaching or Instructing, - - - 428 

Arguing, - - ' - ' - - - 429 

Admonition, - - - - - 431 

Authority, - - - --432 

Commanding, - - - - - 433 

Forbidding and Affirming, - 434 

Denying and Differing, - 435 

Agreeing, - 436 

Judging, ----- 437 

Reproving, Acquitting, and Condemning, - 438 

Pardoning and Dismissing, - 440 

Refusing, . - - - - - 441 

Giving, Granting, - - - - 442 

Gratitude and Curiosity, - - 443 

Promising and Veneration, - - 444 

Respect, Desire, - _ ' - " - - - 445 

Commendation, - - z 446 

Exhorting, ' - / - - - 447 

Complaining and Fatigue, _ - 448 

Sickness, - - . - 449 



PREMONITION 

TO 

THE RKADEB. 



It may not, perhaps, be improper to inform 
the reader, that if he wishes fully to understand 
the following work, he must first apply himself 
closely to the acquiring of a just idea of the two 
radical distinctions of the voice into the rising 
and falling inflection, as explained, Part I. p. 97 
and 68; and Part II. p. 218. If, however, after 
all his labour, the Author should not have been 
able to convey an idea of these two distinctions 
of voice upon paper, he flatters himself that those 
parts of the work, which do not depend upon 
these distinctions, are sufficiently new and useful 
to reward the time and pains of a perusal. 






k 



INTRODUCTION. 



JE LOCUTION, in the modern sense of the 
word, seems to signify that pronunciation which 
is given to words when they are arranged into 
sentences and form discourse. 

Pronunciation, in its largest sense, may signify 
the utterance of words, either taken separately,, 
or in connexion with each other ; but the pro- 

- nunciation of words, connected into a sentence, 
seems very properly specified by elocution. 

Elocution, therefore, according to this defini- 
tion of it, may have elements or principles dis- 
tinct from those of pronunciation in its most lim- 
ited sense ; and we may consider the elements 
©f elocution, not as those principles which con- 
stitute the utterance of single words, but as those 
which form the just enunciation of words in de- 
pendence on each other for sense ; at this point 
the present work commences. The delivery of 
words formed into sentences, and these sentences 
formed into discourse, is the object of it ; and as 
reading is a correct and beautiful picture of speak- 
ing; speaking, it is presumed, cannot be more 
successfully taught, than by referring us to such 

. rules as instruct us in the art of reading. 

The art of reading is that system of rules* 
which teaches us to pronounce written compo- 
sition with justness, energy, variety, and ease. 
Agreeably to this definition, reading may be coii? 

B2 



18 



ELEMENTS OF 



sidered as that species of delivery, which not only 
expresses the sense of an author, so as barely to 
be understood, but which, at the same time, gives 
it all that force, beauty, and variety, of which it 
is susceptible : the first of these considerations 
belongs to grammar, and the last to rhetoric. 

The sense of an author being the first object 
of reading, it will be necessary to inquire into 
those divisions and subdivisions of a sentence 
which are employed to fix and ascertain its mean- 
ing : this leads to a consideration of the doctrine 
of punctuation. 

Punctuation may be considered in two differ- 
ent lights ; first, as it clears and preserves the 
sense of a sentence, by combining those words 
together which are united in sense, and separating 
those that are distinct ; and secondly, as it directs 
to such pauses, elevations and depressions of the 
voice, as not only mark the sense of the sentence 
more precisely, but give it a variety and beauty 
which recommend it to the ear ; for in speaking, 
as in other arts, the useful and the agreeable are 
almost always found to coincide ; and every real 
embellishment promotes and perfects the princi- 
pal design. 

In order, therefore, to have as clear an idea of 
punctuation as possible, it will be necessary to 
consider it as related to grammar and rhetoric 
distinctly. It will not be easy to say any thing 
new on punctuation, as it relates to grammar ; 
but it will not be difficult to show, what perplex- 
ity it is involved in when reduced to enuncia- 



ELOCUTION. 19 

tion ; and how necessary it is to understand dis- 
tinctly the rhetorical as well as grammatical di- 
vision of a sentence, if we would wish to arrive 
at precision and accuracy in reading and speak- 
ing : this will so evidently appear in the course 
of this essay, as to make it needless to insist far- 
ther on it here ; and as the basis of rhetoric and 
oratory is grammar, it will be absolutely neces- 
sary to consider punctuation as it relates precise- 
ly to the sense, ! >e£ore it is viewed as it relates to 
the force, beauty, and harmony of language. 

But the business of this essay is not so much 
to construct a new system of punctuation, as to 
endeavour to make the best use of that which is 
already established ; an attempt to reduce the 
whole doctrine of rhetorical punctuation to a few 
plain simple principles, which may enable the 
reader, in some measure, to point for himself: 
for this purpose, it will, in the first place, be ne- 
cessary to exhibit a general idea of the punctua- 
tion in use, that we may be better enabled to see- 
how far it will assist us in the practice of pronun- 
ciation, and where we must have recourse to prin- 
ciples more permanent and systematical. 



20 ELEMENTS OP 



A general Idea of the common Doctrine of Punc- 
tuation. 

Some grammarians define punctuation to be 
the art of marking in writing the several pauses*, 
~@r rests, between sentences, and the parts of sen- 
fences, according to their proper quantity or pro- 
portion, as they are expressed in a just and ac- 
curate pronunciation. Others, as Sir James Bur- 
row and Doctor Bowles, besides considering the 
joints as marks of rest and pauses, suppose them 
t© be hints for a different modulation of voice, or 
rules for- regulating the accent of the voice, in 
reading; but whether this modulation of the voice 
relates to all the points, or to the interrogation, 
exclamation and parenthesis only, we are not in- 
formed. Grammarians are pretty generally agreed 
in distinguishing the pauses into 

The period ~\ f. 

The colon , , ., J : 

rr,i • i > marked thus << 

The semicolon j j ; 

The comma j ^, 

and those pauses which are accompanied with an 
-alteration in the tone of the voice, into 

The interrogation ^ C ? 

The exclamation > marked thus < ! 

The parenthesis ) ( () 

The period is supposed to be a pause double tile 
time of the colon : the colon, double the semico- 
lon ; and the semicolon, double that of the com- 






ELOCUTION. 2 * 

ma, or smallest pause: the interrogation and ex- 
clamation points are said to be indefinite as to 
their quantity of time, and to mark an elevation 
of voice ; and the parenthesis, to mark a moder- 
ate depression of the voice, with a pause greater 
than a comma. 

A simple sentence, that is, a sentence having 
but one subject, or nominative, and one finite 
verb, admits of no pause. Thus in the follow- 
ing sentence : The passion for praise produces 
excellent effects in women of sense. The passion 
for praise is the subject or nominative case to the 
verb produces ; and excellent effects in women of 
sense, is the object or accusative case, witn its 
concomitant circumstances or adjuncts of speci- 
fication, as Dr. Lowth very properly terms them, 
and this sentence, says the learned bishop, admits 
of no pause between any of its parts ; but when 
u new verb is added to the sentence, as" in the fol- 
lowing: The passion for praise, which is so very 
vehement in the fair sex, produces excellent ef- 
fects in women of sense. Here a new verb is in- 
troduced, accompanied with adjuncts of its own, 
and the subject is repeated by the relative pro- 
noun which : it now becomes a compounded sen- 
tence, made up of two simple sentences, one of 
which is inserted in the middle of the other ; it 
must, therefore, be distinguished into its compo- 
nent parts by a point placed on each side of the 
additional sentence. 

In every sentence, therefore, as many subjects., 
or as many finite verbs, as there are, either ex- 



22 



ELEMENTS OF 



pressed or implied, so many distinctions there 
may be : as, My hopes, fears, joys, pains, all cen- 
ter in you. The case is the same when several 
adjuncts affect the subject of the verb : as, A 
good, wise, learned man, is an ornament to the 
commonwealth ; or, when several adverbs, or ad- 
verbial circumstances, affect the verb : as, He 
behaved himself modestly, prudently, virtuously. 
For as many such adjuncts as there are, so many 
several members does the sentence contain ; and 
these are to be distinguished from each other, as 
much as several subjects or finite verbs. The 
reason of this is, that as many subjects, finite 
verbs, or adjuncts as there are in a sentence, so 
many distinct sentences are actually implied; as 
the first example is equivalent to, My hopes all 
center in you, my fears all center in you, &c. 
The second exan pie is equivalent to, A good man 
is an ornament to the commonwealth, a wise man is 
a?i ornament to the commonwealth, &c. The 
third example is equivalent to, He behaved him- 
self modestly, he behaved himself prudently , &c. ; 
and these implied sentences are all to be distin- 
guished by a comma. 

The exception to this rule is, where these sub- 
jects or adjuncts are united by a conjunction ; as, 
The imagination and the judgment do not always 
agree ; and, A man never becomes learned with- 
out studying constantly and methodically. In these 
cases the comma between the subjects and ad- 
juncts are omitted. 

There are some other kinds of sentences, 



ELOCUTION. 



23 



which, though seemingly simple, are neverthe- 
less of the compound kind, and really contain 
several subjects, verbs, or adjuncts. Thus in the 
sentences containing what is called the ablative 
absolute : as, Physicians, the disease once disco- 
vered, think the cure half wrought ; where the 
words disease once discovered, are equivalent to, 
when the cause of the disease is discovered. So 
in those sentences where nouns are added by 
apposition: as, The Scots, a hardy people, en. 
dured it all. So also in those where vocative 
cases occur : as, This, my friend, you must allow 
me. The first of these examples is equivalent 
to, The Scots endured it all, and The Scots, who 
are a hardy people, endured it all: and the last to. 
This you must allow me, and this my friend must 
allow me. 

When a sentence can be divided into two or 
more members, which members are again divisi- 
ble into members more simple, the former are to 
be separated by a semicolon. 

EXAMPLE. 

But as this passion for admiration, when it worki according' to 
reason, improves the beautiful part of our species in every thing* 
that is laudable ; so nothing is more destructive to them, when it' 
is governed by vanity and folly. 

When a sentence can be divided into two parts, 
each of which parts are again divisible by semr 
colons, the former are to be separated by a coidti, 

EXAMPLES-. 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving" along the diaUplate, 
so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the 
distance gone over. 






24 ELEMENTS OF 

Here the two members, being both simple, 
are only separated by a comma. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
it moving ; so our advances in learning-, as they consist of such 
minute steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

Here the sentence being divided into two equal 
parts, and those compounded, since they include 
others, we separate the former by a semicolon, 
and the latter by commas. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but 
did not perceive it moving ; and it appears that the grass has 
grown, though nobody ever saw it grow; so the advances we 
make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only 
perceivable by the distance. 

Here the advancement in knowledge is com- 
pared to the motion of a shadow, and the growth 
of grass; which comparison divides the sentence 
into two principal parts: but since what is said 
of the movement of the shadow, and of the growth 
of grass, likewise contains two simple members, 
they are to be separated by a semicolon ; conse- 
quently, a higher pointing is required, to separate 
them from the other part of the sentence, which 
they are opposed to : and this is a colon. 

When a member of a sentence forms complete 
sense, and does not excite expectation of what 
follows ; though it consist but of a simple mem- 
ber, it may be marked with a colon. 

EXAMPLES* 

The discourse consisted of two parts : in the first was shown 
the necessity of fighting ; in the seGond,the advantages that would 
arise from it. 






1SL0CUTI0X. %> 

Jin Introduction to the Theory of Rhetorical 
Punctuation* 

Dr. Lowth has, with great plainness and pre- 
cision, drawn the line which bounds the use of 
the comma upon paper, by telling us, that every 
simple sentence, or that sentence which has but 
one subject and one finite verb, cannot have any 
of its adjuncts, or imperfect phrases, separated 
by a point. This he illustrates by a sentence, 
where the subject and verb are accompanied by 
as many adjuncts as they commonly are, but no 
provision is made for such phrases as extend to 
twice the length, and yet continue perfectly sim- 
ple. — The passion for praise produces excellent 
effects in a woman of sense, — is a sentence of so 
moderate a size, as . may be pronounced even 
with solemnity and energy, by most people, 
without once taking breath ; but if we amplify 
these adjuncts that accompany the nominative 
case and the verb in such a manner as is frequent- 
ly to be met with, at least in incorrect composi- 
tion, we shall find it impossible to pronounce the 
sentence with force and ease, without some in- 
terval for respiration; — for instance, if we had 
the following sentence to read — A violent passion 
for universal admiration produces the most ridicu- 
lous circumstances in the general behaviour of 'wb- 
ren of the most excellent understandings, — If, I 



2$ ELEMENTS OF 

say, we, had this sentence to read, how could 
we possibly pronounce it with force and ease, 
without once fetching breath ? — and yet, accord- 
ing to the strictest laws of grammar, no pause is 
to be admitted; for this latter sentence, though 
almost three times as long, is as perfectly sim- 
ple as the former. 

The necessity of taking breath, in some of 
these longer simple sentences, has obliged the 
most accurate .and metaphysical inquirers into 
punctuation to admit of the most vague and in- 
determinate rules. — The most subtile among the 
French writers* on this subject, after giving a 
thousand fine spun reasons for placing the points 
with justness and precision, admits of placing a 
comma in a simple sentence — " Quand lespropo. 
" sitions sont longues pour etre enoncees de suite 
u avec ahance" And one of our best English 
critics tells us, that the difference between the co- 
lon and the semicolon has a dependence on some- 
thing that influences all the points, and sways the 
whole doctrine of punctuation, which is the length 
and shortness of the members and period ; for 
when the phrases are long,"' he says, we point 
higher than when they are short. 

This confession is a sure proof, that the rules 
of these grammarians did not reach all cases ; and 
that, in speaking, they often found themselves 
obliged to pause where they did not dare to in- 
sert a pause in writing, for fear of breaking the 
grammatical connexion of the words : a fear, as 

* Beauzee, Grammaire Generate..- 



ELOCUTION. %7 

will be seen hereafter, which arose from a super- 
ficial knowledge of the principles of rhetorical 
pronunciation. 

But as a proof that the shortest sentences are 
not always to be pronounced so as to preserve a 
perfect equality of time between every word, and 
consequently, that some words admit of longer 
intervals than others ; we need only pronounce 
a short simple sentence in the different ways we 
did the long one. 

Thus if we say — The passion for praise, pro* 
duces excellent effects, in women of sense. — Here, 
I say, if we make a short pause at praise, and 
effects, we do not perceive the least impropriety : 
but if we repeat the same sentence, and make 
the same pauses at produces and in, we shall soon 
discover an essential difference. — For example : 
The passion for praise produces, excellent effects 
in, women of sense. — Here, by using the same 
pause between different words, the sense is ma- 
terially affected ; which evidently shows how ne- 
cessary it is to good reading and speaking, to 
pause only between such words as admit of 
being separated ; and that it is not so much the 
number as the position of the pauses that affect 
the sense of a sentence. 

And here a question naturally arises, since 
it is of so much consequence to the sense of a 
sentence where we admit a pause, what are the 
parts of speech which" allow a pause between 
them, and what are those which do not ? To 
which it may be answered, that the comma, or, 
what is equivalent to it in reading, a short pause, 



£8 iSLE^fENTS tf 

may be so frequently admitted between words in 
a grammatical connexion, that it will be much 
easier to say where it cannot intervene, than 
where it can. — The only words which seem too 
intimately connected to admit a pause, are — the 
article and the substantive, the substantive and the 
adjective in their natural order, and the preposi- 
tion and the noun it governs ; every other com- 
bination of words, when forming single sen- 
fences of considerable length, seems divisible if 
occasion require. — That a substantive in the no- 
minative case may be separated from the verb it 
.governs, will be readily admitted, if we consider 
with how many adjuncts, or modifying words, 
it may be connected ; and, consequently, how 
difficult it will be to carry the voice on to the 
"verb with force, and to continue this force till 
the objective case with all its adjuncts and con- 
xomittants are pronounced : this will appear evi- 
dently from the amplified sentence already pro- 
duced ; which, though not a very common, is- 
<a very possible example ; and rules founded on 
the reason of a thing, must either suit all cases 
<^r none. 

Whatever,, therefore, may be the integrity of 
grammatical connexion to the eye, certain it is 
that the ear perceives neither obstruction nor ob- 
scurity in a pause between the nominative case 
and the verb, when the nominative is composed 
of such words as are less separable. Nay, we 
find the substantive verb, by the most scrupu- 
lous grammarians, constantly separated from its 
preceding noun by a comma, whenever the noun 



ELOCUTION 



20 



is joined to any considerable number of les^ 
separable words. 



EXAMPLES. 



One great use of prepositions in English, is to express those re- 
lations, which, in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases, 
Dr. Lowth's Grammar. 

A colon, or member, is a chief constructive part, or greater- 
division of a sentence. Ibid. 

The very notion of any duration's being past, implies that it 
was once present; for the idea of being once present, is actually 
included in the idea of its being past. 

Spectator, No. 590. 

This punctuation of the substantive verb runs 
through our whole typography and sufficiently 
shews the division which the ear invariably 
makes, when delivery requires a distinct and 
forcible pronunciation ; for not the smallest rea- 
son can be given, why this verb should be se- 
parated from its noun, that will not be equally 
applicable to every other verb in the language. 

The general reluctance, however, at admitting 
a pause to the eye, between the nominative case 
and the verb, is not without a foundation in rea- 
son. The pauses of distinction between the 
parts of a complex nominative case, seem speci- 
fically different from the pause between the nomi- 
native case and the verb ; that the same pause, 
therefore, to the eye should be used between both, 
seems repugnant to a feeling of the different 
kind of connexion tlmt subsists between parts 



30 ELEMENTS 01 

which are only occasionally united, and those: 
which arc necessarily united ; thus in the follow- 
ing sentence : Riches, pleasure, and health be- 
come evils to the generality of mankind. 

There are few readers who would not make 
longer pauses between the nominative health and 
the verb become, than between riches and plea? 
sure, or pleasure and health ; and yet there are 
few writers, or printers, who would not. insert.- a 
pause after the two first words, and omit it after 
the third. This general practice can arise from 
nothing but the perception of the difference there 
is between those parts that compose the nomi- 
native plural, and those parts which compose the 
nominative and the verb; and rather than coi-u 
found this difference, we choose to omit the 
pause in writing, though we use it in speaking i 
till, therefore, we have a point, which, like one 
of the Hebrew points, at the same time that it 
jnarks distinction between parts,, marks a neces- 
sary connexion between them also, we must be 
contented to let this useful and distinguishing 
pause in reading and speaking go unmarked in 
writing and printing. 

If we inquire into the difference between the. 
parts of the nominative, and the nominative it- 
self as part of the sentence, we shall find that the 
former are only parts of a part, and that the lat- 
ter is a part of a who If ; or, in other words, the 
former are parts of a superior part, and the latter 
is the superior part itself; which part, as it con- 
sists of several parts, must, in order to shew 
that -these parts form only one part, be terming- 



ELOCUTION. 31 

ted by a pause, longer than what is given to the 
parts of which it is composed ; but as such pause 
can only be marked by a semicolon, and as a se- 
micolon is often a mark of disjunction, it would 
be highly improper to place it between words so 
intimately connected as the nominative and the 
verb ; for as these words, except sometimes on 
account of emphasis, admit of no separation by 
a pause, when the nominative does not consist 
of parts, so, unless we had a pause, which 
would shew this union of each part with the oth- 
er, without a disunion of the whole number of 
parts from what follows, we had better, perhaps, 
let this chasm in punctuation stand unfilled. 
Where the parts are evidently distinct, as in sen- 
tences constructed in conjunctions, however 
short the parts may be, there seems no impro- 
priety in placing a long pause : thus in the pro- 
verbial sentence, As the day lengthens the cold 
strengthens: we may place a comma, and even 
a semicolon, at lengthens, without appearing to 
injure the sense ; but if we were to place the 
same points between the nominative and the verb 
in the following sentence, The lengthening day is 
followed by the strengthening cold ; we should feel 
an impropriety at placing even a comma at day; 
though we should not perceive the least atactually 
pausing as long between the parts of this, as be- . 
tween those of the former sentence. The only 
method, therefore, of marking this necessary 
pause to the ear, without hurting the connexion 
between these parts of a sentence to the eye, 
would, be to adopt the hyphen; this always 




32 ELEMENTS OF 

shews a necessary connexion of sense, and at 
the same time a clear distinction of ports different 
from the distinction and connexion exhibited by 
the comma ; and this seems the point wanting to 
render our punctuation much more definite and 
complete. 

A want of this distinctive, and at the same 
time connective mark, has made many writers, 
particularly those who have expressed themselves 
with more than common delicacy and precision, 
adopt a dash between parts intimately connected, 
to shew the sense is to be continued, and the 
pause lengthened at the same time. Sterne is 
the most remarkable for the use of this dash : and 
it must be owned, that in him it conveys infinite 
meaning : but where used too often, as in those 
swarms of modern writers of novels, who affect 
to write like Sterne ; or where used improperly, 
and when the common points would give more 
precision to the sense, as we sometimes find in 
Sterne himself;, in this case, I say, it may be 
reckoned among one of the greatest abuses of 
modern orthography. 

Sterne's dashing may be called a species of 
rhetorical punctuation; but the dash may and 
ought to be used grammatically, when there is 
such an order of the words as to introduce the 
reader to run the sense of one member into an- 
other, from which it ought to be separated. 

EXAMPLE. 

After the Prince of Orange had got possession of the govern- 
ment of England — Scotland and Ireland remained s till to be set 
tied. Macpher son's History of England. 



ELOCUTION £3 

The punctuation of the eye, and that of the* 
ear, being thus at variance, and the latter being; 
the principal object of this essay, it may not be 
useless to attempt to give a general idea of the 
principles of that punctuation which really exists 
in correct and elegant speaking, but which has 
hitherto been left entirely to the taste and judg- 
ment of the reader.- 



34 ELEMENTS OF 



Theory of Rhetorical Punctuation. 



It may be observed, that pausing is regulated 
by two circumstances ; one is, conveying ideas 
distinctly, by separating such as are distinct, 
and uniting such as are associated \ the other is, 
forming the words that convey these ideas into 
such classes, or portions, as may be forcibly and 
easily pronounced; for this reason, when the 
words, from their signification, require to be 
distinctly pointed out, that is, to convey objects 
distinguished from each other, however frequent 
tind numerous the pauses may be, they are neces- 
sary ; but if words connected in sense, continue 
to a greater extent than can be easily pronoun- 
ced together, and at the same time have no such 
distinct part as immediately suggest where we 
ought to pause, the only rule that can be given 
is, not to separate such words as are more uni- 
ted than those that we do not separate. 

But it may be demanded, how shall we know 
the several degrees of union between words, so 
as to enable us to divide them properly ? — To 
this it may be answered, that all words may be 
distinguished into those that modify, and those 
that are modified* : the words that are modified 
are the nominative, and the verb it governs ; ev- 
ery other word may be said to be a modifier of 
these words : the noun and the verb being thus 

* Buffier, Grammaire, p. 6(X 



ed 
as 



ELOCUTION. 35 

distinguised from every other, may be one rea- 
son, that, when modified, they so readily admit 
a pause between them ; because words that are 
separately modified may be presumed to be more 
separable from each other than the words that 
modify and the words modified. The modify- 
ing words are themselves modified by other 
words, and thus become divisible into superiour 
and subordinate classes, each class being com- 
posed of w T ords more united among themselves 
than the several classes are with each other. 
Thus in the sentence, The passion for praise pro- 
duces excellent effects in -women of sense — the 
noun passio?i, and the verb produces, with their 
several adjuncts, form the two principal portions, 
or classes of words in this sentence ; and between 
these classes a pause is more readily admitted 
than between any other words : if the latter class 
may be thought too long to be pronounced with- 
out a pause, we may more easily place one at 
effects than between any other words ; because, 
though produces is modified by every one of the 
succeeding words, taken all together, yet it is 
more immediately modified by excellent effects, 
as this portion is also modified by in women of 
sense ; all the words of which phrase are more 
immediately modified by the succeeding words 
than the preceding phrase, produces excellent ef- 
fects, is by them. 

But what, it may be said, is the principle of 
unity among these classes ; and by what marks 
are we to judge that words belong rather to one 
class than another ? To this it may be answered. 






36 



ELEMENTS OF 



that the modifying and modified words form the 
fifst or largest classes ; and the words that modi- 
fy these modifying words, and the modifying 
words themselves, which are necessarily more 
united with each other than those they modify, 
form the smaller classes of words. Upon these 
principles we may divide the sentence last quo- 
ted ; and upon the same principles we may ac- 
count for the division of the following. — A vio- 
lent and ungovernable passion for praise the most 
universal and unlimited, produces often the most 
ridiculous consequences in women of the most ex- 
alted understandings. — When I say, a violent 
and ungovernable passion, I may pause at violent 
to distinguish it from ungovernable, but not at 
ungovernable, because it immediately modifies 
passion ; but when I say, for praise, the most 
universal and unlimited, I must pause at passion, 
to shew the greater connexion between the words 
praise and universal and unlimited than between 
these and passion; the latter class thus secured, 
by a pause, irom mixing with the former, it is 
subject to such divisions as its structure re- 
quires; the subtantive praise, coming before 
the modifying words, is separated from them by 
a pause, not because such pause is necessary the 
better to understand the connexion between 
them ; for had the modifying words been single, 
it would not have admitted a pause ; but because 
the two modifying words, universal and unlimit- 
ed, form a class by themselves, sufficiently united 
to the word praise to detach it from passion, and 
sufficiently distinct from it to-be separated by a 



ELOCUTION, <?4' 

comma. But it may be asked, why does not 
the same classification take place in the former 
part of this sentence, with respect to the two ad- 
jectives, violent and ungovernable, and the sub- 
stantive passion ? It may be answered, that a 
pause of distinction is admitted at violent ; but 
if we were to pause at ungovernable, the two 
modifying words would seem to form a class, 
before the word modified by them is expressed 
or understood ; whereas, in the succeeding part 
of the sentence, the word praise is understood, 
and the modifying words, universal and unlimi- 
ted, are necessarily referred to it. 

If it be demanded, why, in the former sen- 
tence, A violent and ungovernable passion for 
praise produces, &c. we cannot pause both at 
passion and praise? it may be answered, that as 
the words for praise modify passion, they have 
the nature of an adjective, and therefore should 
coalesce with the word passion, which they mo- 
dify ; unless another word, more united to them 
than they are to passion, could be added, to 
make them form a distinct class ; for in this 
case, they would be easily separable as two ad-' 
jectives after a substantive. Thus in the phrase, 

KA violent and ungovernable passion, for praise 
and adulation, &c." here we find praise and adu- 
lation form a class of words sufficiently united 
to be pronounced separately from passion, if ei- 
ther the necessity of taking breath, or a distinct- 
ness of pronunciation require it; for as pausing* 
ought to answer one of these purposes, where 
neither of them are answered, the pause must be 

D 






38 



ELEMENTS OF 



improper. Thus in the following sentence : A 
violent and ungovernable passion for praise produ- 
ces, &c. if we pause at passion, and then at 
praise, we shall pause without any necessity; 
for as we must pause at praise, and the words 
for praise being neither associated with, nor dis- 
tinguished from, any succeeding words, thev 
ought to be united with those that precede, as 
both of them form a member sufficiently short 
to be pronounced with ease ; but if distinctness 
had made it necessary to pause at praise, then, 
notwithstanding the shortness of the phrase, it 
would have formed a distinct member, and have 
readily admitted a pause. Thus in the sentence, 
A violent and ungovernable passion, for praise, 
rather than improvement in virtue, produces oft- 
en the most ridiculous circumstances, &c. : here 
the word praise, being emphatically distinguished 
frpm improvement in virtue, demands a pause 
after it ; and as this word, and its oposite, form 
a class more united together than both are with 
the word passion, a pause is necessary, to shew 
they belong to distinct classes; the pause between 
the opposing words shewing their distinction, 
and the pause before and after them shewing 
their union. 

But it may be asked, how can we suppose 
words opposed to each other, and requiring a 
pause to shew that opposition, can be more uni- 
ted with each other than they are with the pre- 
ceding w r ords they modify ? It may be answered, 
that the modifying word, when unaccompanied 
by adjuncts, and the word modified, form but 






ELOCUTION. 



39 



one class, and do not admit of a pause, either 
when the modifying word precedes or succeeds 
the word modified. — Thus in the phrases, It 
xvas from a prepense malice that he conunitted 
the action ; and, It xvas from a malice prepense 
that he committed the action : In these phrases I 
say, the substantive malice, and the adjective 
prepense, are equally inseparable by a pause ; 
but in the following phrases : 

It xvas from a preconceived and prepense malice 
that he committed the action; and It xvas from a raa- 
lice preconceited and prepense, that he committed 
the action. In the former of these phrases the mo - 
difying words do not form a distinct class from 
the word modified ; and in the latter they do, 
and, therefore, admit of a pause afteijfche word 
malice, which can arise from nothing else but 
this : in one case, the modhy nig words, prece- 
ding the word modified, can signify nothing w .th- 
out being joined to it ; and the other word, the 
modified word, preceding those that modify, 
does signify something independent on them ; 
and this independent signification admits those 
words that equally depend on it, to form a dis- 
tinct, though not an independent, class, by per- 
mitting a pause. Hence arises this general rule 
The word modified, and the words modifying, 
form but one class with relation to the rest of the 
xvords of the sentence ; but if the modifying xvords 
precede the word modified^ the modifying xvords 
are distinguished from each other by a pause, but 
not from the xv or d modified ; and if the modifying 
xvords succeed the xvords modi fed, they are not 



40 ELEMENTS 01' 

only distinguished from each other, but from the 
word which they modify ; that is, they form dis- 
tinct classes respecting each other, and one whole 
class respecting the rest of the words in the sen- 
fence. 

Thus we have endeavoured to trace out the rea- 
son for pausing differently in phrases differently 
constructed, though perfectly similar in meaning. 
In the inquiry, the ingenious researches of Lord 
Kaims upon the subject have been of great use. 
His idea of the connexion between the adjective 
and the substantive in their natural order, and 
the separation they admit of when inverted, is the 
principal clue to the difficulties that have been 
proposed : his assertion, however, that the ad- 
jective and the substantive in an inverted order 
iidmit of a pause, is true only when the adjective 
is single ; for thousands of instances might be 
produced, where a pause is no more admissible 
between a substantive and an adjective in their 
inverted than in their natural order. For exam- 
ple, in the following lines from the Rape of the 
Lock. 

Of these the chief the care of nations own, 
And guard with arras divine the British throne. 

Though the melody of the verse inclines us 
strongly to pause at arms, yet the adjective di- 
vine, immediately succeeding forbids it. Nay, 
IT the line Lord Kaims produces to prove we 
may pause between the adjective and the sub- 
stantive in an inverted order— 

Fer tkcs the fates, severely kind, ordain— 



ELOCUTION. 41 

If this line, I say, had been constructed in this 
manner, 

For thee the fates severe, have this ordained, 

it is evident no pause could be admitted between 
the substantive fates and the adjective severe^ 
though they are in their inverted order ; it is not 
then merely the adjective being placed after the 
substantive which makes it separable from it, 
but the adjective being joined by other words, 
which, when the substantive is understood, are 
more immediately connected with each other 
than with the substantive itself. 

If these observations have any solidity, we 
may perceive how few are the grammatical con- 
nexions which absolutely refuse a suspension of 
pronunciation, for the sake of breathing, wheie 
precision or energy require it : it is certainly to 
be presumed, that the breath of every person is 
nearly proportioned to the forcible pronunciation 
of so many words together as are necessary to 
preserve the sense unbroken ; the contrary, how- 
ever, would often be the case, if the integrity of 
the sense depended on the common rules for pla- 
cing the comma. Let those, however, who can 
pronounce a long sentence esfsily and forcibly, 
provided they preserve the pauses necessary to 
the sense, take breath as seldom as they pit ase. 
I have rather consulted the infirmities than the 
perfections of my fellow creatures ; by endea- 
vouring to point out those resources which are 
necessary to the weak, without imposing them 
as rules upon the strong j — Clausulas enim, says 
D 2 



1 



4^ ELEMENTS OF 

Cicero, atque biterpuncta verborum animce inter- 
clusio atque augustioe spirit <s adtulerunt, De 
Orat. Lib. iii. 

But from studying the human voice, and not 
relying implicitly on the assertion of the an- 
cients, we perceive the weakness of that com- 
mon observation, that long sentences require a 
greater quantity of breath, and a much more 
forcible exertion in the lungs, than such sentences 
as are short. The folly of this opinion must evi- 
dently appear to those who have taken notice how 
often we may pause in a long sentence ; and it 
will be shown hereafter, that the sentence depends 
much less on the pause than on the inflexion of 
voice we adopt ; and that provided we pause in 
the proper place, and preserve the proper tone 
and inflexion of the voice, the sense runs no risk 
on account of the multiplicity or duration of the 
pauses, 

To reduce what has been said into something 
like a system, we shall endeavour to bring toge- 
ther sentences in every variety of construction, 
and mark, as carefully as possible, such pauses 
as are necessary to pronounce them with clear-, 
ness, force and variety* 



\ 



ELOCUTION 



43 



A Practical System of Rhetorical Punctuation. 



Before we give such directions for pausing, or 
dividing a sentence, as will, in some measure, 
enable us to avoid the errors of common punc- 
tuation, and to point for ourselves, it will be ne- 
cessary to inquire into the nature of a sentence, 
and to distinguish it into its different kinds : for 
this purpose, I shall make use of the words of a 
very ingenious author*, who has lately written 
on the Philosophy of Rhetoric : * Complex sen- 

* tences,' says this author, ' are of two kinds : 

* first, they are either periods, or sentences of a 
' looser composition, for which the language 
< doth not furnish us with any particular name. 

c A period is a complex sentence, wherein the 
e meaning remains suspended, till the whole is* 
' finished : the connexion, consequently, is so 

* close between the beginning and the end, as to 
' give rise to the name of period, which signifies 
c circuit ; the following is such a sentence. ' 

" Corruption could not spread with so much 
" success, though reduced into system, and 
" though some ministers, with equal impudence 
" and folly, avowed it, by themselves and their 
f* advocates, to be the principal expedient by 
" which they governed, if a long and almost un- 
" observed progression of causes and effects did 
" not prepare the conjuncture." 

Bolingbroke *s Spirit of Patriotism*. 






Campbell's Philos: of Rhetoric, tol. p. 33& 



44 ELEMENTS OF 

* The criterion of a period is this : if you stop 
any where before the end, the preceding words 
will not form a sentence, and therefore cannot 
convey any determined sense. 
4 This is plainly the case with the above ex- 
ample : the first verb being could, and not can ; 
the potential and not the indicative mood, shews 
that the sentence is hypothetical, and requires 
to its completion, some clause beginning with 
if, unless, or some other conditional particle ; 
and after you are come to the conjunction, you 
find no part where you can stop before the end. 
An example of a complex sentence that is not 
a period, I shall produce from the same per- 
formance :' 
" One party had given their whole attention, 
during several years,to the project of enriching 
themselves, and impoverishing the rest of the 
nation ; and by these and other means, of es- 
tablishing their dominion under the govern- 
ment, and with the favor of a family who 
were foreigners ; and therefore might believe 
that they were established on the throne, by 
the good will and strength of this party 
alone." 

' The criterion of such loose sentences is as 
follows: there will always be found in them 
one place at least before the end, at which if 
you make a stop, the construction of the pre- 
ceding part will render it a complete sentence ; 
thus, in the example now given, whether you 
stop at the word themselves, a$ nation, it domin- 
ion, at government, or &X foreigners, all which 



ELOCUTION. 45 

* words are marked in the quotation in Italics, 
i you will find you have read a perfect sentence.' 

This distinction of a sentence into a period 
or compact sentence, and a loose sentence, does 
not seem to satisfy this ingenious critic ; and he 
produces an example of a sentence of an inter- 
mediate sort, that is neither an entirely loose 
sentence, nor a perfect period : this example, 
too, is taken from Lord Bolingbroke, where, 
speaking of the Eucharist, he says: "The 
" other institution has been so disguised by or- 
" nament, and so much directed in your church, 
" at least, to a different purpose from com- 
" memoration, that if the disciples were to as- 
" semble at Easter in the chapel of his holiness, 
" Peter would know his successor as little as 
" Christ would acknowledge his vicar ; and the 
" rest would be unable to guess what the cere- 
" mony represented or intended." Though this 
sentence forms perfect sense at vicar , the critic 
affirms, that ' the succeeding members are so 
' closely connected with the preceding, that they 
1 all together may be considered as a period, or 
' compact sentence. 5 

Here we find the former distinction destroyed, 
and we are again to seek for such a definition 
of a sentence as will assure us what is a period 
or compact sentence, and what is a loose sentence; 
or, in other words, what members are necessari- 
ly, and what members are not necessarily con- 
nected. In the first place we may observe, that 
it is not the perfect sense, formed by the prece- 
ding members, that determines a sentence to be 



46 FXEMENTS OF 

loose; because succeeding members may be 
so necessarily connected with those that precede, 
notwithstanding the preceding members form 
perfect sense, that both together may form one 
period. Mr. Addison affords us an instance of 
this, in the Spectator, No. 86: " Every one that 
" speaks and reasons, is a grammarian and a 
" logician, though he may be utterly unac- 
" qualated with the rules of grammar or logic 
" as they are delivered in books and systems." 

If we finish this sentence at logician, we shall 
find the sense perfect ; and yet nothing can be 
more evident than that both the member which 
contains this word, and that which follows, are in- 
separably connected. It is not, therefore, the 
perfect sense which a member may form, that 
necessarily detaches it from the rest ; if, upon 
perusing the latter part of the sentence, we find 
it evidently contained in the idea of the former, 
they must both be inseparably connected : the 
whole sentence, therefore, must be understood, 
before we can pronounce upon the connexion 
consisting between its parts. 

But it may be demanded, what is the criterion 
of this connexion; and how shall we know, 
with certainty, whether the idea, of the latter 
member is necessarily contained in the former ? 
To this it may be answered, if the latter mem- 
ber modifies the former, or places it in a point of 
view different from what it appears in alone, we 
may pronounce the members necessarily con- 
nected, and the sentence to be compact and pe- 
riodic. In the last instance, the first member >. 



« 



ELOCUTIOX. 47 

Every one that speaks and reasons, is a gramma- 
rian and a logician ; does not intend to affirm a 
fact which might be understood as descriptive of 
the state of man, either with or without the at- 
tainments of grammar and logic ; but it refers 
precisely to that state which has no such attain- 
ments, and thus is modified by the last member, 
though he may be utterly unacquainted xvith the 
rules of grammar, or logic, as they are deliver- 
ed in books and systems. The modification, there- 
fore, of the former member by the latter, is the 
criterion of sucfuconnexion as forms a period 
or compact sentence. 

It is on this principle that all sentences found - 
ed on an hypothesis, a condition, a concession, 
or exception, may be esteemed compact senten- 
ces or periods ; for in these sentences we shall 
find one part of the sentence modified by the 
other; and it may be affirmed of all other sen- 
tences, that whenever the conjunctions that con- 
nect their members together modify these mem- 
bers, the sentences they compose are periodic ; 
and that whenever the conjunctions only explain 
or add to the meaning of the members to which 
they are subjoined, the sentences which these 
members compose are loose sentences. It will be 
necessary to explain this observation by examples. 

EXAMPLES. 

A man should endeavour to make the sphere of his innocent 
pleasures as wide as possible, that he may retire into them with 
safety, and find in them such a satisfaction as a wise man would 
not blush to take. Of this nature are those of the imagination,. 
whichdo not require such a bent of thought as is necessary to our 
more serious employments, nor at the same time, suffer the mind to 



48 ELEMENTS OF 

sink into that negligence and remissness, -which are apt to accom- 
pany our more sensual delights. — Spectator,^. 411. 

In the first of these sentences we find the con- 
junction that modifies or restrains the meaning 
of the preceding member; for it is not asserted 
in general and without limitation, that a man 
should make the sphere of his innocent pleasures 
as wide as possible, but that he should do so for 
the purpose of retiring into himself: these two 
members, therefore, are necessarily connected, 
and might have formed a period or compact sen- 
tence, had they not been followed by the last 
member ; but as that only adds to the sense of 
the preceding members, and does not qualify 
them, the whole assemblage of members, taken 
together, form but one loose sentence. 

The last member of the last sentence is neces- 
sarily connected with what precedes, because it 
modifies or restrains the meaning of it ; for it is 
not meant, that the pleasures of the imagination 
do not suffer the mind to sink into negli- 
gence and remissness in general, but into that 
particular negligence and remissness which is 
apt to accompany our most sensual delights. The 
first member of this sentence affords an oppor- 
tunity of explaining this by its opposite : for 
here it is not meant, that those pleasures of the 
imagination only are of this innocent nature 
which do not require such a bent of thought as 
is necessary to our more serious employments, 
but that of this nature are the pleasures of the 
imagination in general ; and it is by asking the 
question whether a preceding member affirms 



FXOCUTJON. 49 

any thing in general, or only affirms something 
as limited or qualified by what follows, that we 
shall discover whether these members are either 
immediately or remotely connected, and, conse- 
quently, whether they form a loose or a compact 
sentence : as the former member, therefore, of 
the last sentence, is not necessarily connected 
with those that succeed, the sentence may be 
pronounced to be a loose sentence. 

If these observations have any solidity, we 
have at last arrived at the true distinction be- 
tween a period and a loose sentence ; which is, 
that a period is an assemblage of such words, or 
members, as do not form sence independent on each 
other ; or if they do, the former modify the latter ', 
or inversely ; and that a loose sentence is an as- 
semblage of such words or members as do form 
sense, independent on those that follow, and at the 
$ame time are not modified by them : A period 
or compact sentence, therefore, is divisible into 
two kinds ; the first, where the former words 
and members depend for sense on the latter, as in 
the sentence, As we cannot discern the shadow 
moving along the dial-plate, so the advances we 
make in learning are only perceived by the dis- 
tance gone over. Which for distinction's sake 
we may call a direct period. The second kind of 
period, or compact sentence, is that where, though 
the first part forms sense without the latter, it is 
nevertheless modified by it ; as in the sentence, 
There are several arts which all men are in some 
measure masters of, without being at the pains of 

E 



50 



ELEMENTS OF 



learning them. Which we may call an inverted 
period. The loose sentence has its first members 
forming sense, without being modified by the lat- 
ter ; as in the sentence, Persons of good taste ex* 
pect to be pleased at the same time they are in- 
formed ; and think that the best sense always de- 
serves the best language. In which example, 
we find the latter member adding something 
to the former, but not modifying or altering it. 

It will readily occur to the critical reader, that, 
in this definition of a period, I have departed 
widely from the doctrine of the ancients, who 
consider it as an assemblage of members, and not 
of words only ; but as such a reader will know 
the difficulty of giving a precise idea of a period, 
according to the opinion of the ancients, and what 
diversity and uncertainty there is about it among 
the moderns ; he will the more easily excuse my 
hazarding a definition of my own. My princi- 
pal objt ct has been, to give such a definition as 
would be clear, precise and useful : such a one as 
would best answer the purposes of pronunciation, 
by exactly drawing the line between the connex- 
ion and disjunctions of words, without making 
use of such indefinite terms as the more or less 
intimate connexion of the parts, or the con- 
currents of the parts to the plentdude of a total 
sense. 

Sentences thus defined and distinguished into 
their several kinds, we shall be better enabled to 
give such rules for dividing them by pauses, as 
will reduce punctuation to some rational and stea- 



ELOCUTION. 



51 



dy principles. Previously, however, to these 
rules, it will be necessary to observe, that^as the 
times of the pauses are exceedingly indefinite, the 
fewer distinctions we make between them, the 
less we shall embarrass the reader; the common 
estimate of the times of the comma, the semico- 
lon, the colon, and the period, in the geometrical 
proportions of 1, 2, 4, 8, pleases us, from its anal- 
ogy with the times of the semibrief, minim, 
crotchet, and quaver in music ; but every one 
will confess at first sight, that as these dis- 
tinctions in reading are arbitrary, they are use- 
less ; every one feels a difference between a grea- 
ter and smaller pause, but few can conceive de- 
grees of these ; I shall beg leave, therefore, to 
reduce the number of pauses to three ; namely, 
the smaller pause, answering to the comma ; the 
greater pause answering to the semicolon and co- 
lon ; and the greatest pause answering to the pe- 
riod. The ancients knew nothing of the semico- 
lon : and if we consider practice and real utility, 
I believe it will be found, that the three distinc- 
tions of the ancients answer every useful purpose 
in writing and reading. 

The smaller pause, the greater pause, and the 
greatest pause, are the distinctions, therefore, I 
shall* beg leave to adopt in the rules to be given 
for dividing a sentence : and as the division of a 
sentence depends necessarily on its structure, and 
the greater or less connexion of its parts, it will 
be proper to begin with the direct period ; that is, 



52 ELEMENTS OP 

whe^e no sense is formed till the sentence is coi 
dueled. 

Rule I. Every direct period consists of two 
principal constructive parts, between which parts 
the greater pause must be inserted ; when these 
parts commence with conjunctions that corres- 
pond with each other, the}'' are sufficiently distin- 
guishable ; as in the following sentence : 



As we cannot discern the shadow moving along- the dial-plate, 
so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the 
distance gone over. 



Here we may observe, that the first construc- 
tive part begins with as, and the second with so ; 
the expectation is excited by the first, and an- 
swered by the latter : at that point, therefore, 
where the expectation begins to be answered, and 
the sense begins to form, the principal pause is 
to be used ; and, by these means, the two con- 
trasted and correspondent parts are distinctly 
viewed by the mind. 

A period may be direct, and its parts as neces- 
sarily connected, where only the first conjunction 
is expressed. 

EXAMPLE. 

As in my speculations I have endeavoured to extinguish passion 
and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing- some good in this par- 
ticular. Spectator. 

Here the word so is understood before / am, 
and the long pause as much required as if so had 



ELOCUTION. 



53 



been expressed ; since it is here the sentence na- 
turally divides into two correspondent and de- 
pendent parts. 

That point, therefore, where the expectation 
begins to he answered, or where one part of the 
sentence begins to modify the other, is the point 
which we must be the most careful to mark ; as 
it is here the sentence naturally divides into its 
principal constructive parts. 

Rule II. Every inverted period consists of two 
principal constructive parts, between which parts 
the greater pause must be inserted ; these parts 
divide at that point, where the latter part of the 
sentence begins to modify the former; in periods 
of this kind, the latter conjunction only is ex- 
pressed, as in the example : Every one that 
speaks and reasons is a grammarian, and a logician, 
though he may be utterly unacquainted with the 
rules of grammar, or logic, as they are delivered 
in books and systems. If we invert this period, 
we shall find it susceptible of the two correspon- 
dent conjunctions though and yet ; as, Though 
utterly unacquainted with the rules of grammar or 
logic, as delivered in books and systems, yet every 
man who speaks and reasons is a grammarian and 
logician. — This inversion of the order of a sen- 
tence, is, perhaps, the best criterion of the con. 
nexion of its parts ; and proves that the former, 
though forming complete sense by itself, is mod- 
ided-by the latter. — Thus in the phrases, Christ 
died for him, because he died for all— Many 

JE2 



3 * ELEMENTS 0* 

things are believed, though they exceed the cat>a- 
city of our wits* Hooker. 

In these phrases, if we do but transpose the 
noun and pronoun, and invert the order, the sen- 
tences will be perfectly the same in sense, and 
the connexion will be more apparent; as, Because 
Christ died for all, he died for him — Though ma- 
ny tilings exceed the capacity of our wits, they are 
believed. 

Rule III. Every loose sentence must consist 
of a period, either direct or inverted, and an ad- 
ditional member which does not modify it ; and, 
consequently, this species of sentence requires a 
pause between the principal constructive parts of 
the period, and between the period and the addi- 
tional member. 

EXAMPLE. 

Persons of g'ood taste expect to be pleased, at the same time they 
are informed ; and think, that the best sense always deserves the 
best language. 

In this sentence an inverted period is construc- 
ted at the word informed; which requires a pause 
at pleased, because here the former part of the 
sentence is modified by the latter ; and a pause is 
required at informed, because here another mem- 
ber commences. — Let us take another example : 



The soul, considered abstractly from its passions, is of a remiss 
sind sedentary nature ; slow in its resolves, and lang'uisliing in its 
executions* Spectator, No. "255. 



ELOCUTION. 



55 



Here a direct period is formed at nature ; the 
principal constructive parts of this period sepa- 
rate at pass-ions ; and here must be the larger 
pause : the succeeding members are only addi- 
tional, and require a larger pause between them 
and the period they belong to, and a smaller pause 
between each other at resolves. 

Having thus given an idea of the principal 
pause in a sentence, it will be necessary to say 
something of the subordinate pauses, which may 
all be comprehended under what is called the 
short pause. 

And, first it may be observed, that by the long 
pause, is not meant a pause of any determinate 
length, but the longest pause in the sentence. 
Thus the pause between the nominative and the 
Verb in the following sentence : 

The great and invincible Alexander, wept for the fate of Darius. 

The pause here, I say, may be called the long 
pause, though not half so long as the pause be- 
tween the two principal constructive parts in the 
following sentence : g| 



If impudence prevailed, as much in the forum and the courts 
of justice, as insolence does in the country and places of less re- 
soit; Aulus Caecina would submit as much to ti>e impudence of 
Sextus JEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence 
when assaulted by him. 



Here the pause between the words resort, and 
Aldus Carina, may be called the long pause, not 



56 



ELEMENTS OP 



so much from its duration, as from its being the 
principal pause in the sentence : the long pause, 
therefore, must always be understood relatively 
to the smaller pauses : and it ma\ pass for a good 
general rule, that the principal pause is longer, 
or shorter, according to the simplicity or com- 
plexity of the sentence : thus, in the three fol- 
lowing sentences, we find the two principal con- 
structive parts separated by a pause in exact pro- 
portion to the simplicity or complexity of the 
members : 



EXAMPLES. 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving" along the dial-plate, 
so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceivable by 
the distance gone over. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
it moving ; so our advances in learning-, consisting of insensible 
steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but 
did not perceive it moving ; and it appears the grass has grown, 
though nobody ever saw it grow : so the advances we make in 
knowledge, as they make such minute steps, are only perceivable 
by the distance. 



In the first sentence the two principal con- 
structive parts are separated by a comma at dial- 
plate ; in the second, by a semicolon at moving ; 
and in the third, by a colon at grow : if, for the 
purposes of force, variety, or ease, (each of which 
causes will be sometimes sufficient reason for a 
pause, where there is none in the sense) — if, for 
any of these purposes, I say, it were necessary to 
pause in the first member of the first sentence, 



ELOCUTION. 



57 



no words seem so readily to admit a pause be- 
tween them as shadow and movi?ig, as here the 
object is distinguished from the circumstance at- 
tending it ; and if a pause were necessary in the 
last member, the two principal parts here seem 
to be the nominative phrase ending at knowledge, 
and the verb with its adjuncts beginning at are. 
The second sentence seems to have all the pauses 
it will admit of ; but the third might, for some 
of the above-mentioned reasons, have a pause at 
shadow, and, for reasons that will be given here- 
after, ought always to have a pause at grown : and 
as the last member is intersected by an inci- 
dental member between the nominative and the 
verb, it ought to have two subordinate pauses, 
one at knowledge and the other at steps, before 
the final pause at distance. 

Thus when the sentence is divided into its 
principal parts by the long pause, these parts, if 
complex, are again divisible into subordinate 
parts by a short pause ; and these, if necessary, 
are again divisible into more subordinate parts by 
a still shorter pause, till at last we arrive at those 
words which admit of no pause ; as the article 
and the substantive, the substantive and adjective 
in their natural order, or, if unattended by ad- 
juncts, in any order; and the prepositions and 
the words they govern. These words may be 
considered as principles, in their nature not di- 
visible : if, without necessity, we pause between 
other words, the pronunciation will be only lan- 
guid and embarrassed : but between these, a 



58 ELEMENTS OP 

pause is not only embarrassing, but unsuitabi 
and repugnant to the sense. 

The subordinate parts of sentences are asily 
distinguished in such sentences as consist of parts 
corresponding to parts, as in the following exam- 
ple : 
. 

if impudence prevailed as much in the forum and courts of jus- 
tice, as insolence does in the country and places of less resort ; 
Auius Csecina would submit as much to the impudence of Sextus 
iEbutms in this cause, as he did before to his insolence when as- 
saulted by him. 

Here the whole sentence readily divides into 
two principal constructive parts at resort ; the 
first part as readily divides into two subordinate 
parts at Justice; and the last, into two other sub- 
ordinate parts at cause; and these are all the pauses 
necessary : but if, either from the necessity of 
drawing breath, or of more strongly enforcing 
every part of this sentence, we were to admit of 
more pauses than those, it cannot be denied, that 
for this purpose, some places more readily admit 
of a pause than others : if, for instance, the first 
subordinate part were to admit of two pauses, 
they could no where be so suitably placed as at 
impudence and forum; if the next might be over- 
pointed in the same manner, the points would be 
less unsuitable at does and country than at any 
other words ; in the same manner, a pause might 
be more tolerable at Carina and JEoutius, and at 
before and insolence, than in any other of the sub- 
ordinate parts of the latter division of this sen- 
tence. 



ELOCUTION. 



59 



The parts of loose sentences which admit of 
the short pause, must be determined by the same 
principles. If this sentence has been properly 
defined, it is a sentence consisting of a clause 
containing perfect sense, followed by an addition- 
al clause which does not modify it. Thus in the 
following example : 

Foolish men are more apt to consider what they have lost, than 
what they possess ; and to turn their eyes on those who are richer 
than themselves, rather than on those who are under greater dif- 
ficulties. 

Here a perfect sentence is formed at possess, 
and here must be the longest pause, as it inter- 
venes between two parts nearly independent : the 
principal pause in the first member of this sen- 
tence, which may be called a subordinate pause 
respecting the whole sentence, is at lost, and that 
of the last member at themselves ; if, for the sake 
of precision, other and shorter pauses were ad- 
mitted, it should stem most suitable to admit 
them at men and consider in the first member, at 
eyes and those in the iirst part of the second mem- 
ber, and at those in the last. In these observa- 
tions, however, it must be carefully understood, 
that this multiplicity of shorter pauses are not re- 
commended as necessary or propei , but only as 
possible, and to be admitted occasionally : and, 
to draw the line as much as possible between what 
is necessary and unnecessary, we sh til endeavour 
to bring together such particular cases as demand 
the short pause, and those where it cannot be 



60 ELEMENTS OF 

omitted without hurting either the sense or the 
delivery. 

Rule IV. When a, nominative consists o 
more than one word, it is necessary to pause af- 
ter it. 

When a nominative and a verb come in a sen- 
tence unattended by adjuncts, no pause is neces- 
sary, either for the ear or understanding ; thus in 
the following sentence — Alexander wept : No 
pause intervenes between these words, because 
they convey only two ideas, which are apprehen- 
ded the moment they are pronounced ; but if 
these words are amplified by adjuncts of specifi- 
cation, as in the following sentence — The great 
and invincible Alexander ', wept for the fate of Da- 
rius : Here a pause is necessary between these 
w T ords, not only that the organs may pronounce 
the whole with more ease, but that the complex 
nominative and verb may, by being separately 
and distinctly exhibited, be more readily and dis- 
tinctly conceived. 

This rule is so far from being unnecessary 
when we are obliged to pause after the verb, that 
it then becomes more essential. 

EXAMPLE. 

This account of party patches will, I am afraid, appear im- 
probable to those who live at a distance from the fashionable 
world. Addison's Sped. N° 81. 

If in this sentence we only pause at will, as 
marked by the printer, we shall find the verb 



i 



ELOCUTION. 61 

swallowed up, as it were, by the nominative case, 
and confounded with it ; but if we make a short 
pause both before and after it, we shall find every 
part of the sentence obvions and distinct. 

That the nominative is more separable from 
the verb than the verb from the objective case, 
is plain from the propriety of pausing at self-love, 
and not at forsook, in the following example : 



Self-love forsook the path it first pursu'd, 
And found the private in the public good. 

Pope's Essay on Jllqn. 



The same may be observed of the first line of the 
following couplet : 



Earth smiles around with boundless bounty blest, 
And heaven beholds its image in his breast. Ibid. 



Here though the melody invites to a pause at be- 
holds, propriety requires it at heaven. 

Rule V. Whatever member intervenes between 
the nominative case and the verb, is of the nature 
of a parenthesis, and must be separated from both 
of them by a short pause. 

EXAMPLES. 

I am told that many virtuous matrons, who formerly have been 
taught to believe that this artificial spotting of a face was unlaw- 
ful, are now reconciled, by a zeal for their cause, to what they 
could not be prompted by a concern for their beauty. 

Addison's Spect. No. 81 



62 ELEMENTS OF 

The member intervening between the nomina- 
tive matrons and the verb are, may be consider- 
ed as incidental, and must therefore be separated 
from both. 






When the Romans and the Sabines were at war, and just upon 
the point of giving- battle, the women, who were allied to both of 
them, interposed with so many tears and entreaties, that they pre- 
vented the mutual slaughter which threatened both parties, and 
united them together in a firm and lasting- peace. 

Addison, ibid. 



Here the member intervening between the 
nominative case women, and the verb interpo- 
sed, must be separated from both by a short 
pause. 

Rule VI. Whatever member intervenes be- 
tween the verb and the accusative case, is of the 
nature of a parenthesis, and must be separated 
from both by a short pause. 

EXAMPLE. 

I knew a person who possessed the faculty of distinguishing 
Savors in so great a perfection, that, after having tasted ten differ- 
ent kinds of tea, he would distinguish, without seeing the colour 
ef it, the particular sort which was offered him. 

Addison's Sped. No. 409. 

The member intervening between the verb 
distinguish and the accusative the particular sort, 
must be separated trom them by a short pause. 

A man of a fine taste in writing will discern, after the same 
wanner, not only the general beauties and imperfections of an 



&L0OUTI0N. 



63 



author, bv.it discover the several ways of thinking" and expressing" 
himself, which diversify him from all other authors, 

Addison, ibid. 



The member intervening between the verb 
discern and the accusative not only the general 
beauties, must be separated from bpth by a short 
pause. 

Rule VII. When two verbs come together, 
and the latter is in the infinitive mood, if any 
words come between* they must be separated 
from the latter verb by a pause. 

EXAMPLE. 

Now, because our inward passions and inclinations can never 
make themselves visible, it is impossible for a jealous man, to be 
thoroughly cured of his suspicions. Spectator, No. 170. 

In this example, the verbal phrases, it is impos- 
sible and to be thoroughly cured, have the words - 
for a jealous man coming between them, which 
must therefore be separated from the latter by a 
comma, or short pause. 

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind, to suffer 
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune ; 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 
And by opposing end them ? Shakspeare. 

If it were necessary for breathing to pause any 
where in this passage, we should find a pause 
-much more admissible at mind than dn any other 
part, as here a clause intervenes between the verbs 



64 



ELEMENTS OP 



is and suffer ; and two verbs seem more separa- 
ble than a verb and its objective case. 

But when the substantive verb to be is followed 
by a verb in the infinite mood, which may serve 
as a nominative case to it, and the phrases before 
and after the verb may be transposed, then the 
pause falls between the verbs. 



EXAMPLES. 



The practice among the Turks is, to destroy, or imprison for 
life, any presumptive heir to the throne. 

Here the pause falls between is and to destroy. 

Their first step was, to possess themselves of Caesar's papers 
and money, and next to convene the Senate. 

Goldsmith's Roman History. 

Here we must pause between was and possess. 

Never had this august assembly been convened upon so delicate 
an occasion; as it was, to determine 'whether Czesar had been a le- 
gal magistrate or a tyrannical usurper. Ibid. 

Here the pause comes between was and to de- 
termine. 

Rule VIII. If there are several subjects be- 
longing in the same manner to one verb, or sever- 
al verbs- belonging in the same manner to one 
subject, the subjects and verbs are still to be ac- 
counted equal in number ; for every verb must 
have its subject, and every subject its verb ; and 



ELOCUTION. 



65 



every one of the subjects, or verbs, should have 
its point of distinction and a short pause. 

EXAMPLE. 

Riches, pleasure, and health, become evils to those who do not 
know how to use them. 

Here the subjects riches, pleasure, and health, 
belong each of them to the verb bevome ; as Mich- 
es become an evil, pleasure becomes an evil, and 
health becomes an evil, &x. Each of these, there- 
fore, must be separated by a short pause ; and all 
of them, forming only one compound nominative 
case, must, according to Rule IV. be separated by 
a short pause from the verb. This last pause 
must be the more particularly attended to, as we 
scarcely ever see it marked in printing. One of 
the best French* grammarians, however, has de- 
cided, that this pause is not only as necessary here 
as between the other parts, but more so; because, 
says he, if the pause be omitted between the last 
nominative and the verb, it might appear that the 
verb were more closely united to this than any of 
the rest, contrary to the truth of the case. 

I am perfectly of opinion with this ingenious 
grammarian, with respect to the propriety of pla- 
cing a pause in speaking, if not in writing, be- 
tween the last noun and the verb, but for very dif- 
ferent reasons : if we ought to insert a pause here, 
to shew that the connexion between the last noun 

* Beauzee Grammaire General©, tom.ii. p. 582. 
F 2 



66* ELEMENTS OF 

and the verb is no greater than between the verb 
and the preceding nouns, no good reason can be 
given why we should not place a pause between 
the last adjective and the substantive in this sen- 
tence : 

A polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to suc- 
ceed in life. 

The word behaviour, in this sentence, is not 
more intimately connected in signification with 
supple, than with polite and active ; and yet no 
punctuist would insert a pause between the two 
former, to shew that the three properties polite, 
active, and supple, were equally connected with 
the common word behaviour. Whence then ari- 
ses the propriety of placing a pause between the 
word health and become in the former instance ? 
Evidently from hence : the nominative consists 
of three particulars, which, though distinguished 
from each other by pauses, form but one nomi- 
native plural, and are more connected with each 
other than with the verb they govern ; their con- 
nexion, therefore, with each other, as forming one 
distinct part, and not their belonging equally to 
the verb, is the reason that a pause is proper. If 
shewing the connexion of dependent words to be 
equal, were the reason for placing a pause : we 
ought to place a pause between the pronoun and 
the first verb in the following example : 

He went into the cavern, found the instruments, hewed down 
fhe trees, and in one day put the vessels in a condition ftft- sail- 

■n.iT. I'elemnch::?, 



ELOCUTION. 67 

Here every member depends equally on the 
pronoun he, and yet it would be contrary to the 
best practice to insert a pause between this word 
and the verb went* But if the common nomina- 
tive consisted of more than one word, a pause 
would not only be allowable, but proper, as in the 
following example. 



The active and indefatigable Teiemachus, went into the cavern, 
found the instruments, hewed down the trees, and in one day put 
the vessels in a condition for sailing. 






It is therefore, because the nominative forms 
a class of words more intimately connected with 
each other than all are with the verb, that makes 
this part of speech separable by a pause in the 
latter example, and not in the former.* 

Rule IX. If there are several adjectives belong- 
ing in the same manner to one substantive, or 
several substantives, belonging in the same man- 
ner to one adjective, the adjective and substan- 
tives are still to be accounted equal in number ; 
for every substantive must have its adjective, and 
every adjective its substantive j and every adjec- 
tive coming after its substantive, and every adjec- 



* Why a pause may be used in speaking where a comma might 
be improper in writing, see p. 30 : and why a pause may be admit- 
ted, both in writing and speaking, between the substantive and 
adjective, when several adjectives follow the substantive, and not 
when the adjectives precede the substantive, may be seen at large, 
y.40. 



66 ELEMENTS OF 

tive coming before the substantive except the last, 
must be separated by a short j^use. 



EXAMPLE. 



A polite, an active, and a supple behaviour, is necessary to suc- 
ceed in life. 

In this example, behaviour, as was observed in 
the foregoing rule, is understood to belong equally 
to polite and active, as to supple, and consequent- 
ly, every adjective has its correspondent substan- 
tive ; and as the adjectives come before the sub- 
stantive, every one but that which immediately 
precedes its substantive is separated by a pause. 
The punetuation is different in the following sen- 
tence : 



A behaviour, active, supple, and polite, is necessary to succeed 
in life. 



In this example, as the substantive precedes 
the adjectives, every adjective is separated from 
the substantive by a pause : for the reason of this, 
see p. 39. 

Rule X. If there are several adverbs belonging 
in the same manner to one verb, or several verbs 
belonging in the same manner to one adverb, the 
verbs and adverbs are still to be accounted equal 
in number ; and if the adverbs come after the 
verb, they are each of them to be separated by a 
pause ; but if the adverbs come before the verb, 
a pause must separate each of them from the verb 
but the last. 



ELOCUTION. 



EXAMPLES. 



69 



To love, wisely, rationally, and prudently, is, in the opinion of 
lovers, not to love at all. 

Wisely, rationally, and prudently to love, is, in the opinion of 
lovers, not to love at all. 



In the first example, the verb and adverb are 
sepatated by a pause, for the same reason that the 
adjective was separated from its substantive in the 
same situation in the preceding rule ; that is, the 
verb to love excites an idea which the mind may 
contemplate for a moment separately from the ad- 
verb which modifies it ; and as this adverb is ac- 
companied by others, they form a class more uni- 
ted by similitude with each other than with the 
verb they modify ; and distinguishing the word 
to which they all relate by a pause, makes an 
equal relation to each more distinct and apparent. 
The reason why this separation does not take 
place in the example, is, that though modifying 
words may be distinguished from each other, they 
cannot be separated, even in idea, from the words 
they modify, because they give the mind no ob- 
ject to rest on ; and so intimately are they always 
connected, that though the modified word comes 
firsi, and by this means affords the mind a mo- 
mentary pause, yet no pause is admitted between 
the modified and the modifying word, unless the 
latter is accompanied by other modifying words, 
which then form a class apart, and require sep- 
aration both from each other, and the word they 
modify, 



70 ELEMENTS OF 

Thus in the following example : 



To eat, drink, and sleep moderately is grently conducive \c 
health. 

Moderately to eat, drink, and sleep is greatly conducive to 
health. 



We find the adverb moderately, in the first ex^ 
ample, coming after the verb sleep, and unaccom- 
panied by any other words, is not separated from 
the verb by a pause, any more than when it pre- 
cedes the verb, as in the last example : but every 
critical ear will admit of a pause between the verb 
and adverb in the following lines of Othello in 
Shakspeare : 

Then must you speak 
Of one, that loved, not wisely, but too well. Shakspeare. 

Because in this passage the words, not wisely but 
too well, form a distinct class, and cannot be dis- 
tinctly apprehended but by being separated from 
the verb they modify. 

But when the adverb precedes the verb it is 
then in the same case as the adjective before the 
substantive ; it is impossible to divide it from the 
verb by a pause. 

EXAMPLES. 

This ring- he holds, 
in most rich choice, yet in his idle fire 
To buy his will it would not seem too dear, 
Howe'er repented of. Ibid. 



ELOCUTION. 



71 



In this example, the adverb however must ne- 
cessarily be classed with the verb it precedes, 
and, consequently, a pause must be placed at 
dear. 

To trace the ways 
Of highest agents, deem'd however wise. J^ELtoiu 

Here the word however modifies the adjective 
wise, and therefore is more closely united with it 
than with the verb deemed: and if this union be 
not intimated by a short pause at deemed, the sense 
will be a little ambiguous ; as we shall not know 
whether these agents are extremely, or only mod- 
erately wise. But when this word is used con^ 
junctively, that is, when we may supply its place 
by substituting nevertheless, notwithstanding, yet, 
*r still, a pause ought always to follow it. 

EXAMPLES. 

In your excuse your love does little say, 

You might howe'er, have took a fairer way. firyden. 

Here the word however is used conjunctively, and 
a pause after it is highly necessary. 

I do not build my reasoning wholly on the case of persecution ; 
however, 1 do not exclude it. Attcrbury. 

A pause in this sentence at however, manifestly 
fixes and regulates the sense of it. 

Rule XL Whatever words are put into the case 
absolutely, commonly called the ablative absolute, 
must be separated from the rest by a short pause. 



72 ELEMENTS OF 



EXAMPLES. 



If a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt or die, 
the owner thereof not being with it, he shall surely make it good. 
Old Testament. 



Here the owner thereof not being with it, is the 
phrase called the ablative absolute ; and this, like 
a parenthesis, must be separated from the rest of 
the sentence by a short pause on each side. 



God, from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top 
Shall tremble, he descending, will himself 
In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets' sound 
Ordain them laws. Milton. 



Here, he descending, neither governs nor is go- 
verned by any other part of the sentence ; and is 
said to be in the ablative absolute, and this inde- 
pendence must be marked by a short pause be- 
fore and after the clause. 

Rule XII. Nouns in apposition, or words in 
the same case, where the latter is only explana- 
tory of the former, have a short pause between 
them, either if both these nouns consist of many 
terms, or the latter only. 

EXAMPLES. 

When first thy sire, to send on earth 

Virtue, his darling child, design'd; 

To thee he gave the heav'nly birth 

And bade thee form her infant mind. Gray. 



ELOCUTION. 



73 



Here the word Virtue ■, and the following mem- 
ber, may be said to be in apposition, and must be 
divided by a short pause. 

If the two nouns are single, no pause is admit- 
ted: as, Paul the Apostle; King George: but 
if the latter consists of many terms, a short pause 
is necessary ; as, Paul, the apostle of the Gen- 
tiles ; George, king of Great Britain, France, 
and Ireland, 

The reason of this seems to be the same with 
that which permits us to pause between a sub- 
stantive and an adjective in an inverted order, when 
the latter has adjuncts that form a class ; for when 
nouns are in apposition, the latter, by qualifying 
the former, has the nature of an adjective, and 
is therefore subject to the same laws of punctu- 
ation. 

Rule XIII. Who, which, when in the nomi- 
native case, and the pronoun that, when used for 
who, or which, require a short pause before 
them. 

EXAMPLES. 

A man can never be obliged to submit to any power, unless he 
can be satisfied, who is the person, who has a right to exercise it, 
Locke. 

To which, their want of judging- abilities, add also their want; 
of opportunity to apply such a serious consideration as may let 
them into the true goodness and evil of things, -which are quali- 
ties, which seldom display themselves to the first view. South. 

You'll rue thePtime, 

That clogs me with this answer. Shakspeare. 

Nothing they but dust can show, 
Or bones, that hasten to be so. Co-wley, 
Saints, that taught, and led the way to Heav'n. Tick?}, 

G 



74 



ELEMENTS OP 



Rule XIV. When that is used as a casual _ 
junction, it ought always to be preceded by 
short pause. 



EXAMPLES. 

It is not, that I love you less 

Than when before your feet I lay, 

But to prevent the sad increase 

Of hopeless love, I keep away. Waller. 

Forgive me, that I thus your patience wrong-. Covoley. 

The custom and familiarity of these tongues do sometimes sc 
far influence the expressions in these epistles, that one may ob- 
serve the force of the Hebrew conjugations. Locke. 

There is the greater necessity for attending to 
this rule, as we so frequently find it neglected in 
printing : for fear of crouding the iine with 
points, and appearing to clog the sense to the eye, 
the ear is often defrauded of her unquestionable 
rights. I shall give two instances among a thou- 
sand that might be brought to shew where this is 
the case. 

I must therefore desire the reader to remember that, by the 
pleasures of the imagination. I mean only such pleasures as arise 
originally from sight. Spectator, No. 411. 

It is true, the higher nature still advances, and by that means, 
preserves his distance and superiority in the scale of being ; but 
he knows that, how high soever the station is of which he stands 
possessed at present,, the inferior nature will at length mount up 
to it, and shine forth in the same degree of glory. Spectator, 
No. 111. 

In these examples, we find the incidental mem- 
ber succeeding the conjunction that is separated 



ELOCUTION. 75 

from it by a panse ; but the pause which ought 
to precede this conjunction is omitted : this punc- 
tuation runs through our whole orthography, and 
is the more culpable, as the insertion of the pause 
after that, where it is less wanted than before, is 
more apt to mislead the reader than if he saw no 
pause at all. 

Rule XV. Prepositions and conjunctions are 
more united with the words they precede than 
with those they folio w; and, consequently, if it 
be necessary to pause, the preposition and con- 
junction ought to be classed with the succeeding 
words, and not with the preceding. 



EXAMPLES. 

A violent passion, for universal admiration, produces the mqst 
ridiculous circumstances, in the general behaviour, of women of 
the most excellent understandings. 

As it has been formerly remarked, (p. 38.) we 
may pause four times in this sentence, if neces- 
sary, without in the least hurting the sense : that 
is, at passion, admiration, circumstances, and be- 
haviour ; but, if instead of pausing at these words, 
we were to pause at the words for, produces, in, 
and of, which are the words immediately suc- 
ceeding, we shall soon perceive to which words 
the prepositions naturally belong. 



Homer and Hesiod intimate to us hew (.his art should bo applied, 
when they represent the Muses as surrounding Jupiter, and warb- 
ling hymns about his throne. 



76 



ELEMENTS OP 



In this example, the conjunction as, and the 
copulative and, in the last clause, must neces- 
sarily be classed with the succeeding, and not 
the preceding words. 

I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 

Old Testament. 

Here the conjunction except, naturally associ- 
ates with the latter part of the sentence* and re- 
quires a short pause before it. 



This let him know, 
Ecst, wilfully transgressing, he pretend 
Sarprizal. Milton. 



In this example, the conjunction lest is very pro- 
perly separated from the preceding words by a 
short pause at know, and as the parenthetic words 
wilfully transgressing come between the conjunc- 
tion, and the pronoun to which it belongs, the 
conjunction has very properly a pause both be- 
fore and after it. 



People expect in a small essay, that a point of humour should 
be worked up, in all its parts, and a subject touched upon, in its 
most essential articles, without the repetitions, tautologies, and 
enlargements, that are indulged to longer labours. 

Sped. No. 124. 

In this sentence the preposition up is separated 
from in, because it enters into the composition of 
the verb work, as to work up forms one complex 
verb ; the same may be observed of the prepo- 



ELOCUTION. 77 

sition upon, in the next clause of the sentence. 
An execution to this will be found in the follow- 
ing rule. 

Rule XVI. When words are placed either in 
opposition to, or in opposition with each other, 
the words so placed require to be distinguished 
by a pause. 

This is a rule of very great extent, and will be 
more fully treated under the article Emphasis : 
it will be proper, however, to give a general idea 
of it in this place, as pause and force are very dif- 
ferent things, and ought therefore to be treated 
separately and distinctly. 

EXAMPLES. 

The pleasuses of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the un- 
derstanding. Spectator, No. 411. 

In this example we shall find all writers and 
printers agree in placing but one pause between 
the four contrasted parts, and this point is at 
sense : here, it must be owned, is the principal 
pause ; but it must likewise be acknowledged 
by every judicious ear, that a short pause at grow, 
and another at refined, convey more forcibly and 
distinctly every part of the sentence. 



Some place the bliss in action, some in ease ; 
Those call it pleasure, and contentment these. 

Pope's Essay on Moth 

G 2 



ELEMENTS OF 



In this couplet we never see a pause alter the 
two words some in the first line, nor after the 
words those and contentment in the second ; and 
yet nothing can be more evident than that a short 
pause after these words tends greatly to place the 
sense in a clear and distinct point of view. 

In the same manner, when one object is suc- 
cessively contrasted with another, though these 
objects form the nominative case to the verb, and 
consist but of a single word, it is necessary to 
pause after each, in order to show the contrast 
more distinctly. 



EXAMPLES. 

At the same time that T think discretion the most useful talent 
a nun can be m; ster of, I loolc upon cunning- to be the accomplish- 
ment of littje, mean, ungenerous minds. Discretion points out 
the noblest ends to us, and pursues the most proper and laudable 
methods of attaining them : Cunning has only private selfish aims, 
and sticks at nothing which may make them succeed. Discretion 
,md extended views, and, like a well-formed eye, com- 
mands a whole horizon: Cunning is a kind of short-sightedness, 
that discovers the minutest objects that are near at hand, but is 
not able to discern tilings at a distance. Discretion, the more it 
is discovered, gives a greater authority to the person who posses- 
ses it : Cunning, when it is once detected, loses its force, and 
makes a man incapable of bringing about even those events which 
he might have done, had he passed only for a plain man. Discre- 
tion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties 
of life : Cunning is a kind of instinct, that only looks out after our 
immediate interest and welfare. Discretion is only found in men 
of strong sense and good understandings : Cunning is often to be 
met with in brutes themselves, and in persons who are but the 
fewest removes from them : in short, Cunning is only the mimic 
of Discretion, and may pass uponfJ^eak men, in the same manner 
as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for wisdom 
AiUUson's 'Spectator. No. 22 J. 



ELOCUTION 



79 



In this passage, much of the force and preci- 
sion of the contrast between discretion and cun- 
ning would be lost without a sensible pause after 
each. 

The necessity of distinguishing opposite or 
contrasted parts in a sentence, will sometimes 
oblige us to separate words that are the most in- 
timately united. 



EXAMPLES. 



To suppose the zodiac and planets to be efficient of, and an 
tecedent to themselves, would be absurd. Bentley. 



Here the propositions of and to are in opposition 
to each other, and both connected intimately 
with the word themselves ; but this connexion 
does not preclude the necessity of a pause after 
each, to show their distinct and specific relation 
to their governing words, and their equal relation 
to the word themselves. Indeed, the words of 
and to, in this sentence, are emphatical, from that 
exactness and precision which the argument 
seems to require. 



It is objected by readers of history, that the battles in those 
narrations are scarce ever to be understood. This misfortune is 
to be ascribed to the ignorance of historians, in the methods of 
drawing up, changing- the forms of battalia, and the enemy re- 
treating from, as well as approaching to, the charge. 

Spectator y No. 428. 

The pretexts were, his having invaded and overcome many 
states that were in alliance with, and under the protection of 
Rome. Goldsmith* s Bom. Hist. 



80 ELEMENTS OF 

Though a pause seems admissible both after 
from and to in this sentence, yet the opposition 
between these propositions seems as much mark- 
ed by emphasis as by rest : and in examples of 
this kind it seems necessary to pause a smaller 
time after the last proposition than after the first. 
To sum up the whole in a few words, as those 
classes of words which admit of no separation 
are very small and very few, if we do but take 
the opportunity of pausing where the sense will 
permit, we shall never be obliged to break in 
upon the sense when we find ourselves under a 
necessity of pausing ; but if we overshoot our- 
selves by pronouncing more in a breath than is 
necessary, and neglecting those intervals where 
we may pause conveniently, we shall often find 
ourselves obliged to pause where the sense is not 
separable, and, consequently, to w r eaken and ob- 
scure the composition. This observation, for the 
sake of the memory may be conveniently com- 
prized in the following verses : 



In pausing, ever let this rule take place, 

Never to separate words in any case 

That are less separable than those you join ; 

And, which imports the same, not to combine 

Such words together, as do not relate 

So closely as the words you separate. 

The interrogation, exclamation, and paren- 
thesis, seem rather to be whole sentences than 
members of a sentence; and as they are distin- 
guished from others, more by a peculiar inflexion 



ELOCUTION. 



81 



of voice than by pausing, they naturally belong 
to that part of this essay which treats of those in- 
flexions of voice which are annexed to sentences, 
and parts of sentences, according to their differ- 
ent structure and signification. 

Thus have I attempted, with a trembling hand, 
to hint a few more rules for pausing than have 
been hitherto generally adopted ; and though but 
little is accomplished, I flatter myself enough is 
done to show how much farther we might go in 
this subject, if we would apply ourselves to it 
systematically, and leave less to the taste and un- 
derstanding of the reader. 

I doubt not but many will be displeased at the 
number of pauses I have added to those already 
in use ; but I can with confidence affirm, that not 
half the pauses are found in printing which are 
heard in the pronunciation of a good reader or 
speaker; and that, if we would read or speak 
well, we must pause, upon an average, at every 
fifth or sixth word. It must also be observed, 
that public reading, or speaking, requires paus- 
ing much oftener, than reading and conversing 
in private ; as the parts of a picture which is to 
he viewed .at a distance, must be more distinctly 
and strongly marked, than those of an object 
which are nearer to the eye, and understood at 
the first inspection. 



82 ELEMENTS OF 



Introduction to the Theory of the Inflexions of 
the Voice. 



Besides the pauses, which indicate a greater 
or less separation of the parts of a sentence and a 
conclusion of the whole, there are certain in- 
flexions of voice, accompanying these pauses, 
which are as necessary to the sense of the sen- 
tence as the pauses themselves ; for, however ex- 
actly we may pause between those parts which 
are separable, if we do not pause with such an in- 
flexion of voice as is suited to the sense, the com- 
position we read will not only want its true mean- 
ing, but will have a meaning very different from 
that intended by the writer. How desirable, 
therefore, must any method be, that can convey 
to us that inflexion of voice which is best suited 
to the sense of an author ! but this will at first 
sight be pronounced impossible. What ! it will 
be said, will any one pretend to convey to us, 
upon paper, all that force, beauty, variety, and 
harmony, which a good reader throws into com- 
position, when he enters into the spirit of his 
author, and displays every part of it to advan- 
tage? No, it may be answered, this is not at- 
tempted : but, because all this cannot be done, is 
it impossible to do any part of it ? Because the 
exact time of pausing is not always denoted by 
the points in use, is it useless to have any marks 



ELOCUTION. 



83 



of pausing at all ? Because the precise degree of 
emphatic force is not conveyed by printing some 
words in a different character, cannot we some- 
times assist the reader in apprehending the force 
or feebleness of pronunciation, by printing the 
emphatical words in Italics ? The practice of this 
in books of instruction sufficiently shews it is not 
entirely useless ; and, if executed with more 
judgment, there is little doubt, of its being ren- 
dered still more useful. 

The truth is, something relative to the pro- 
nunciation can be conveyed by written marks, 
and something cannot. The pauses between sen- 
tences, and members of sentences, may be con- 
veyed ; the accent on any particular syllable of a 
word may be conveyed; the emphasis on any 
particular word in a sentence may be conveyed ; 
and it is presumed it will be demonstrated in the 
course of this work, that a certain inflexion of 
voice, which shows the import of the pauses, 
forms the harmony of a cadence, distinguishes 
emphasis into its different kinds, and gives each 
kind its specific and determinate meaning, may 
be as clearly conveyed upon paper, as either the 
pause, the accent, or the emphatic word : — Here 
then is one step farther, in the art of reading, than 
any author has hitherto ventured to go ; and that 
this new step is not entirely visionary and imprac- 
ticable, will more clearly appear by considering* 
the nature of speaking sounds. 



84 ELEMENTS OF 



Of the two simple Inflexions of the Voice, 



All vocal sounds may be divided into two 
kinds, namely, speaking sounds, and musical 
sounds. Musical sounds are such as continue a 
given time on one precise point of the musical 
scale, and leap, as it were, from one note to 
another ; while speaking sounds, instead of dwel- 
ling on the note they begin with, slide* either 
upwards, or downwards, to the neighbouring 
notes, without any perceptible rest on any : so 
that speaking and musical sounds are essentially 
distinct ; the former being constantly in motion 
from the moment they commence; the latter be- 
ing at rest for some given time in one precise 
note. 

The continual motion of speaking sounds 
makes it almost as impossible for the ear to mark 
their several differences, as it would be for the 
eye to define an object that is swiftly passing be- 
fore it, and continually vanishing away : the dif- 
ficulty of arresting speaking sounds for exami- 
nation, has made almost all authors suppose it 
impossible to give any such distinct account of 
them, as to be of use in speaking and reading*; 
and, indeed, the vast variety of tone which a 
good reader or speaker throws into delivery, and 

* Smith's Harmonics, p. 3. Note (c) 



ELOCUTION. 



85 



of which it is impossible to convey any idea but 
by imitation, has led us easily to suppose that 
nothing at all of this variety can be denned and 
reduced to rule : but when we consider, that 
whether words are pronounced in a high or low, 
in a loud or a soft tone ; whether they are pro- 
nounced swiftly or slowly, forcibly or feebly, 
with the tone of the passion, or without it ; they 
must necessarily be pronounced either sliding up- 
wards or downwards, or else go into a monotone 
or song ; when we consider this, I say, we shall 
find, that the primary division of speaking 
sounds is into the upward and the downward 
slide of the voice ; and that whatever other diver- 
sity of time, tone, or force, is added to speaking- 
it must necessarily be conveyed by these two 
slides. 

These two slides, or inflections of voice, there- 
fore, are the axis, as it were, on which the force, 
variety, and harmony of speaking turns. They 
may be considered as the great outlines of pro- 
nunciation ; and if these outlines can be tolerably 
conveyed to a reader, they must be of nearly the 
same use to him, as the rough draught of a pic- 
ture is to a pupil in painting. This then we 
shall attempt to accomplish, by adducing some 
of the most familiar phrases in the language, and 
pointing out the inflections which every ear, how- 
ever unpractised, will naturally adopt in pro- 
' nouncing them. These phrases, which are in 
every body's mouth, will become a kind of data, 
or principles^ to which the reader must constant- 



86 



ELEMENTS OF 



ly be referred, when he is at a loss for the precise 
sound that is understood by these different in- 
flections ; and these familiar sounds, it is presum- 
ed, will sufficiently instruct him. 



Method of explaining the Inflections of the Voice. 

It must first be premised, that by the rising 
or falling inflection, is not meant the pitch of 
voice in w T hich the whole word is pronounced, 
or that loudness or softness which may accom- 
pany any pitch ; but that upward or downward 
slide which the voice makes when the pronunci- 
ation of a word is finishing; and which may, 
therefore, not improperly be called the rising 
and falling inflection. 

So important is a just mixture of these two in- 
flections, that the moment they are neglected, our 
pronunciation becomes forceless and monoto- 
nous : if the sense of a sentence require the voice 
to adopt the rising inflection, on any particular 
word either in the middle, or at the end of a 
phrase, variety and harmony demand the falling 
inflexion on one of the preceding words ; and on 
the other hand, if emphasis, harmony, or a com- 
pletion of sense, require the falling inflection on 
any word, the word immediately preceding, al- 
most always, demands the rising inflection ; so 
that these inflections of voice are in an order near- 
ly alternate. 



ELOCUTION 



87 



This is very observable in reading a sentence, 
when we have mistaken the connexion between 
the members, either by supposing the sense is to 
be continued when it finishes, or supposing it fi- 
nished when it is really to be continued : for in 
either of these cases, before we have pronounced 
the last wqrd, we find it necessary to return pret- 
ty far back to some of the preceding words, in 
order to give them such inflections as are suitable 
to those which the sense requires on the succeed- 
vords. Thus, in pronouncing the speech of 
Fortius in Cato, which is generally mis-pointed, 
as in the following example : 

Remember what our father oft has told us, 
- The ways of beav , n are dark and intricate, 
Puzzled in mazes andperplex'd in errors; 
Our understanding' traces them in vain, 
Lost and bewilder'd in the fruitless search : 
Nor sees with how muchart the winding's run, 
Nor where the regular confusion ends. 

If, I say, from not having considered this pas- 
sage, we run the second line into the third, by 
suspending the voice at intricate in the rising in- 
flection, and dropping it at errors in the falling, 
we find a very improper meaning conveyed ; and 
if, in recovering ourselves from this improper 
pronunciation, we take notice of the different 
manner in which we pronounce the second and 
third lines, we shall find, that not only the last 
word of these lines, but that every word alters its 
inflection ; for, when we perceive, that by mis- 
taking the pause, we have misconceived the 



88 



ELEMENTS QF 



sense, we find it necessary to begin the line again, 
and pronounce every word differently, in order 
to make it harmonious. 

But though these two inflections of voice run 
through almost eveiy word of which a sentence 
is composed, they are no where so perceptible as 
at a long pause, or where the sense of the words 
requires an emphasis ; especially if the word 
end with a long open vowel : in this case, if we 
do but attend nicely to that turn of the voice 
which finishes this emphatical word, or that 
member of a sentence where we pause, we shall 
ioon perceive the different inflection with which 
these words are pronounced. 

In order to make this different inflection of 
voice more easily apprehended, it may not, per- 
haps, be useless to attend to the following direc- 
tions. Let us suppose we are to pronounce the 
following sentence : 

Does Csesar deserve fame or blame ? 

This sentence, it is presumed, will, at first 
sight, be pronounced with the proper inflections 
of voice, by every one that can barely read ; and 
if the reader will but narrowly watch the sounds 
of the words fame and blame, he will have an ex- 
ample of the two inflections here spoken ot : fame 
will have the rising, and blame the falling in- 
flection : But, to make this distinction still clear- 
er, if, instead of pronouncing the word fame 
slightly, he does but give it a strong emphatic 



ELOCUTION. 



89 



force, and let it drawl off the tongue for some 
time before the sound finishes, he will find it 
slide upwards, and end in a rising tone ; if he 
makes the same experiment on the word blame } 
he will find the sound slide downwards, and end 
in a falling tone : and this drawling pronunciation, 
though it lengthens the sounds beyond their pro- 
per duration, does not alter them essentially ; the 
same inflections are preserved as in the common 
pronunciation; and the distinction is as real in 
one mode of pronouncing as in the other, though 
not so perceptible. 

Every pause, of whatever kind, must necessa- 
rily adopt one of these two inflections, or contin- 
ue in a monotone : Thus, when we ask a ques- 
tion without the interrogative words, we natur- 
ally adopt the rising inflection on the last word; 
as, 

Can Caesar deserve blame ? Impossible ! 

Here blame, the last word of the question, has the* 
rising inflection, contrary to the inflection on that 
word in the former instance ; and impossible, with 
the note of admiration^ the falling : The comma, 
or that suspension of Toice generally annexed to 
it, which marks a continuation of the sense, is 
most frequently accompanied by the rising inflec- 
tion, as in the following sentence : 

If Caesar deserves blame, he ought to have no fame. 

Here we find the word blame, marked with a com- 
ma, has exactly tfye same inflection of voice as 
h 2 



90 



ELEMENTS OF 



the same word in the interrogative sentence imme- 
diately preceding ; the only difference is, that the 
rising inflection slides higher at the interrogation 
than at the comma, especially if it be pronoun- 
ced with emphasis. 

The three other points, namely, the semicolon,, 
colon, and period, adopt either the rising or fal- 
ling inflection as the sense or harmony requires, 
though in different degrees of elevation and de- 
pression. But these different degrees of rising 
ar falling on the slide which ends the word, are 
by no means so essential as the kind of slide we 
adopt. Thus in the following sentences : 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along- the dial-plate, 
so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceived by the 
distance gone over. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive -x v , 
"it moving ; so our advances in learning, consisting of insensible 
steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but 
aid not perceive it moving ; and it appears that the grass has 
grown, though nobody ever saw it grow : so the advances we 
make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are on- 
5y perceivable by the distance. 

Here, I say, the words dial-plate, moving, and 
grow, marked with the comma, semicolon, and 
colon, must necessarily end with the upward slide ; 
and provided this slide be adopted, it is not of any 
very great consequence to the sense whether the 
slide be raised much or little ; but if the down- 
ward slide be given to any of these words, though 
*« the smallest degree, the sense will be material- 
ly affected* 



ELOCUTION. 



91 



The same points, when the sentence is differ- 
ently constructed,, adopt the other inflection. 

Thus the inflection of voice which is adopted 
in a series of emphatic particulars, for the sake 
of force and precision, though these particulars 
are marked by commas only, is the falling inflec- 
tion : we have an example of this in the true pro- 
nunciation of the following sentence : 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

That this is the proper inflection on each of 
these particulars, will more evidently appear 
by repeating them with the opposite inflection of 
voice, or that suspension usually given to the 
comma : 

I tell you though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven were to affirm the truth of it I could not believe it. 4 

In pronouncing this sentence, therefore, in or- 
der to give force and precision to every portion, 
the falling inflection ought to be adopted on you, 
world, and heaven ; and for the sake of conveying 
what is meant by this inflection, we may call each 
of these words emphatical, and print them in 
Italics ; not that all emphasis necessarily adopts 
the falling inflection, but because this inflexion is 
generally annexed to emphasis, for want of a 
just idea of the distinction of inflection here laid 
down: 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 



92 



ELEMENTS OF 



The falling inflection annexed to members 
of sentences generally marked with the semi- 
colon and colon, may be seen in the following ex- 
ample : 

Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time 
they are informed ; and think that the best sense always deserves' 
the best language : but still the chief regard is to be had to per- 
spicuity. ^ 

In this example, the word informed is mar- 
ked with the semicolon, and the word language 
with the colon ; and from the sense and struc- 
ture of the sentence, both require the falling in- 
flection, contrary to that annexed to the same 
points in the preceding sentences. The period 
in each sentence has the falling inflection, and in 
the last sentence is pronounced in a lower tone 
of voice than the same inflection on the colon and 
semicolon. 

Thus we see, that whatever variety of another 
kind, such as loudness or softness, highness or 
lowness, swiftness or slowness, or whatever other 
variety we may accompany the points with, they 
must necessarily adobt either the rising or falling 
inflection, or be pronounced in a monotone. Th&se 
inflections, therefore, which are the most marking 
differences in reading and speaking, perhaps, are 
not improperly pitched upon to serve as guides to 
to an accurate pronunciation ; but as so much 
depends upon a just notion of this real though 
delicate distinction, if the reader is not yet made 
sufficiently acquainted with it he will not think it 
superfluous to peruse the following attempt to 
render it still clearer. 



ELOCUTION. 



93 



Another method of explaining the inflections of the 
Voice, 

Every sentence consisting of an affirmation and 
negation directly opposed to each other, has 
^n appropriated pronunciation, which, in ear- 
nest speaking, every ear adopts without any 
premeditation. Thus in the following sentence : 

Caesar does not deserve fame, but blame. 

Here the word fame has the rising, and blame 
the falling inflection ; and we find all sentences 
constructed in the same manner have like this, 
the rising inflection on the negative, and the 
falling inflection on the affirmative member. 
The word blame, therefore, in this sentence, 
has not the falling inflection, on it because 
it is the last word, but because affirmation, op- 
posed to negation, naturally adopts this inflec- 
tion. 

Thus far choice has been made of words differ- 
ent in sense, though similar in sound, that the 
sentence might appear to carry some meaning 
with it, and the reader be led to annex those in- 
flections to the words which the sense seemed to 
demand ; but, perhaps, the shortest method of 
conveying the nature of these inflections, would 
be to cake the same word, and place it in the in- 
terrogative and declarative sentences, in opposi- 



94 



ELEMENTS OF 



tion to itself: Thus it is certain, that e very- 
speaker, upon pronouncing the following phra- 
ses, would give the first fame in each line the ri- 
sing, and the last fame in each line the falling- 
inflection : 

Does he say fame, or fame ? 

He does dot say fame, but fame. 

But here an ear which cannot discern the true dif- 
ference of sound in these words, will be apt to sup- 
pose that what difference there is, arises from the 
l'astfa??ie being pronounced in a lower tone than 
the first ; but this, it maybe observed, makes no 
essential difference : Let us pronounce the last 
word in as high a key as we please, provided we 
preserve the proper inflection, the contrast to the 
former word will appear ; as a proof of this, let 
us pronounce the last word of the last phrase 
with a strong emphasis, and we shall find, 
that though it is in a higher key than the first 
word fame, the voice slides in a contrary direc- 
tion. Accordingly w r e find, that if we lay the 
strong emphasis upon the first fame in the fol- 
lowing sentence, the last fame will take the rising 
inflection : 

He says fame, and not fame. 

so that the inflections on the first and test fame, in 
this sentence, are in an opposite order to the 
same inflections on the same words in the two for- 
mer phrases. 



ELOCUTION. 95 

But, perhaps, by this time, the reader's ear is 
puzzled with the sounds of single words, and it 
may not be amiss to try it with the same inflec- 
tions, terminating members of sentences : This, 
perhaps, will not only convey the nature of these 
two inflections better than by sounding them upon 
single words, but give us, at the same time a bet- 
ter idea of their importance and utility. And, first, 
let the reader try over the following passage of 
Mr. Addison in the Spectator, by reading it so 
as to place the rising inflection, or that inflection 
commonly marked by a comma, on every partic- 
ular of the series : 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong-, arrd 
full of sublime ideas : The figure of Death, the regal crown upon 
his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the 
outcry at his birth, arc circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 

Then let him practice it over by reading it so as 
to place the falling inflection, or that inflection 
commonly marked by a colon, on every particu- 
lar of the series but the last ; to which let him 
give the rising reflection, marked by the comma; 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, 
and full of sublime ideas: The figure of Death, the regal crown 
upon his head, his menace of Satan : his advancing to the combat : 
the outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed 
over in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 

This last manner of reading this passage is un- 
questionfely the true one, as it throws a kind of 
emphasis on each member, which forms a beauti- 
ful climax, entirely lost in the common mode of 



96 ELEMENTS OF 

pronouncing them : and, to omit no metfrod that 
may tend to convey an idea of this difference of 
inflection, let us suppose these words to be all 
emphatical, and, as such, according to the com- 
mon method they may be printed in Italics ; this 
is not an accurate idea of emphasis, as will be 
shewn hereafter, but it is the common one, 
and, as such, may serve to shew the difference 
between pronouncing the first example and the 
second. 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong, 
and full df sublime ideas : The figure of Death ; the regal crown 
upon his head : his menace of Satan : his advancing to the com- 
bat : the outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be pas- 
sed over in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 

If the reader, from this description of the in- 
flections of the voice, can so far understand them 
as to be sensible of the great difference there is 
between suspending the voice at every comma in 
the first example, and giving it a forcible down- 
ward direction at every colon in the two last ex- 
amples, it is presumed, he will sufficiently con- 
ceive, that this distinction of the two leading in- 
flections of the voice may be applied to the most 
useful purposes in the art of reading. But in or- 
der to give a still clearer idea, if possible, of these 
two different inflections, we shall subjoin a sort of 
scale or diagram, with an explanation of each ex- 
ample annexed. 



ELOCUTION. 



Explanation of Plate I. 

No. I- Did he do it voluntarily or involuntarily I 

In the pronunciation of these words, we find 
every syllable in the word voluntarily rises ex- 
cept the first, vol; and every syllable in the word 
involuntarily falls but the first, in. A slow draw- 
ling pronunciation of these words will evidently 
show that this is the case. These different slides 
of the voice are named from the direction they 
take in the conclusion of a word, as that is the 
most apparent, especially if there are several syl- 
lables after the accented syllable, or if the word 
be but of one syllable, and terminate in a vowel 
or a liquid : for, in this case, the sound lasts some 
time after the word is articulated. Thus voluntarily 
may be said to have the rising, and involuntarily 
the falling inflection ; and wc must carefully guard 
against mistaking the low tone at the beginning 
of the rising inflection for the falling inflection, 
and the high tone at the beginning of the falling 
inflection for the rising inflection, as they are not 
denominated rising or falling from the high or 
low tone in which they are pronounced, but from 
the upward or downward slide in which they 
terminated, whether pronounced in a high or low 
key. 



S8 



ELEMENTS OF 



In this representation we see something of that 
wave-like rising and falling of the voice, which 
constitutes the variety and harmoney of speech. 
It will not be easy at first to conceive this cor- 
respondence between the eye and the ear, especi- 
ally if we do not dwell distinctly on the words 
we repeat : but I flatter myself a little custom 
will soon render it clear, at least with respect to 
the words that are accented or emphatical ; for 
it is to be observed, that in this scheme every 
word, whether accented or not, is arranged un- 
der that line of sound to which it belongs : though 
the unaccented words are generally pronounced 
so feebly, as to render it often very difficult to say 
to which class they belong ; that is, whether to the 
rising or failing inflection ; but when the accenled 
or emphatic words have their proper inflection, 
the subordinate words can scarcely be an impro- 
per one ; and this makes the difficulty of ascer- 
taining their true inflection of less consequence. 
The accented or emphatic words, therefore, are 
those only which we need at present attend to ; 
and those in good speaking and reading, we shall 
find constantly adopting such an inflection as 
is suitable to the sense and harmony of the sen- 
tence. 

The sentence, N\ I. and any other sentence 
constructed in exactly the same manner, must 
necessarily adopt the rising inflection on the first 
member, and the falling on the last ; that is, the 
rising; inflection on voluntary, and the falling on 
involuntary ; and this pronunciation is so appro- 



ELOCUTION, 



99 



priated to this species of sentence, that the dul- 
lest and most unpractised ear would, without the 
least reflection, adopt it. The same may be said 
of the sentence, N°. II. which ever}- ear would 
agree in pronouncing with the same inflections in 
a contrary order ; that is, the felling inflection on 
voluntarily ', and the rising on involuntarily, 

N°. III. and IV. shew, that the same words 
take different inflections in correspondence with 
the sense and structure of the sentence ; for as the 
word constitution, in N°. IV. only ends a member 
of the sentence, and leaves the sense unfinished, 
it necessarily adopts the suspending or rising in- 
fl ct : n ; and harmony requires that the preceding 
words should be so arranged, as to form the 
greatest harmony and variety, which is done by 
giving every one of the words an inflection, differ- 
ent from what it has in N°. III. where constitu- 
tion ends the sentence 

But when we say a word is to have the rising 
inflection, it is not meant that this word is to be 
pronounced in a higher tone than other words, 
but that the latter part of the word is to have a 
higher tone than the former part ; the same may 
be observed, mutatis mutandis, of the falling 
inflection ; and this difference of tone between the 
former and latter part of a ward (especially if the 
word be a monosyllable,) is so difficult to ana- 
lyse, that though we can perceive a difference 
upon the whole, we cannot easily mark where ti 
lies. 

But if we form a series of words, beginning 



100 



ELEMENTS OF 



with long polysyllables, and proceeding to mono- 
syllables, and carefully preserve the same inflec- 
tion- on each sentence, we shall plainly perceive the 
diversity of inflection in the short as well as in the 
long words. This will appear by pronouncing the 
different series in the plate annexed. 



Explanation of Plate II. 



In this table we find the rising and falling in- 
flections very distinguishable in the long words, 
and grow more and more imperceptible in the 
short ones ; they are, however, no less real in one, 
than in the other ; as a good ear will easily per- 
ceive, by beginning at the long words, and repeat- 
ing down to the short ones. From N°. I. to 
N°. IX. the contrasted words are rising at the 
comma, and falling at the note of intetrogation ; 
zndfromN . X. to N°. XVIII. they are fal- 
ling at the comma, and rising at the period. 

Lest an inaccurate ear should be led to sup- 
pose, that the different signification of the opos- 
ing words is the reason of their sounding differ- 
ently, we have given some phrases composed of 
the same wx>rds, -'which are nevertheless pronounc- 
ed with exactly the same difference of inflection as 
the others. Thus the words conscience N°. IV- 
are pronounced with the same difference of in- 




XIX Did he act Jus Sly ? 

XX Z/tnow not whether he acted justly or unjustly, 

hiot 7is& acted/ contrary to law. 

XXI If h^c acted contrary to law, he could ru>t have 
acted justly, hid/ unjustly. 



ELOCUTION. 



101 



flection as the preceding phrases ; that is, the first 
conscience has the rising, and the last the falling 
inflection : the following words, unjustly, pride 
mind, all, and lad, have the same diversity of 
pronunciation ; and the diversity in these, as in 
the rest, is in an inverted order in the opposite 
column. 

If we consider these slides or inflections with 
respect to quantity ; that is, how long the up- 
ward inflection continues to rise from the point 
where it begins, and how long the downward in- 
flection fails from its commencing point ; we shall 
find that as this difference is not easily ascertained, 
so, ill an outline of this kind, it is of no great 
consequence : the rising or falling of the slide, 
ill a greater or a less degree, does not essentially 
affect the sense or harmony of a sentence ; while 
adopting one slide for the other, will often des- 
troy both. See p. 89. 

Thus in the interrogative sentence, N°. XIX. 
Did he act justly ? the voice ought to adopt the 
rising inflection, and continue the upward slide on 
the word justly, somewhat longer and higher 
than if it had been a mere comma ; and yet, if we 
mark the rising inflexion on the word justly in 
the sentence, N°. XX. the difference of the slides 
on these two words in these different sentences is 
not very considerable. 

If we consider the sentence, No. XXI. as 

concluding a subject or a considerable branch of 

it, the voice will gradually slide into a lower tone 

towards the end, and the word unjustly will be 

i 2 



.102 



ELEMENTS Ol 



pronounced in a lower tone of voice than in the 
bentence, N°. V. ; but the downward slide in 
soth will be nearly of the same duration and ex- 
tent ; for, as w r e have before observed, as the 
different key in which we sing or play a tune, 
makes no difference in the length or shortness of 
the notes ; so the different pitch of voice in 
which we speak or read, has no relation to the 
height or lowness of the slide or inflection w^ith 
which we terminate our words. 

It will be necessary for the pupil to practise 
over these series of words, and to form sentences 
of his own, for the purpose of using the ear to dis- 
tinguish the inflections. In order to this, he must 
dwell longer on the words at which he pauses, and 
on those which have emphasis, than is proper when 
lie is reading or speaking in common, that the 
ear may be better enabled to catch the inflection : 
it may be remarked too, that the more colloquial 
and familiar the language, provided it isearnestand 
empaticaljthe more perceptible the inflectionsare: 
and the more elevated and poetical, the less so. 
The plaintive tone, so essential to^the delivery of 
elegiac composition, greatly diminishes; the slides, 
and reduces them almost to monotones ; nay, a 
perfect monotone without any inflection at all, is 
sometimes very judiciously introduced in read- 
ing verse. Thus in the sublime description of 
the richness of Satan's throne, in the beginning of 
the second book of Paradise Lost ; 



io: 



ELOCUTION. 

High o-n a throne of royal state which far 
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde, 
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand 
Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, 
Satan exalted sat. 



In this passage, I say, every word of the third 
and fourth line, but pearl and gold, may be pro- 
nounced in a monotone ; and this monotone, will 
greatly add to the dignity and grandeur of the ob- 
ject described. 

As poetry, therefore, when properly read, will 
often greatly diminish, and sometimes even en- 
tirelyjsink the inflections into a monotone ; empha- 
tic sentences in prose will be the best for the learn- 
er to practise upon, in order to acquire an idea 
of the difference of inflection : constantly observ- 
ing to prolong and drawl out the pronunciation of 
the word, the inflection of which he wants to dis- 
cover. 

Perhaps the best method of knowing whether 
we make use of the inflection we intend, is to form 
it into a question with the disjunctive or, and to 
repeat it in the same manner as the interrogative 
sentences, Plate II. 

Thus in the following sentence: 

A contented mind, and a good conscience, will make a man 
happy in all conditions. 

In order to pronounce this sentence to the best 
advantage, it will be necessary to lay the falling 
inflection on the word mind, the rising on con- 
science, and the falling on all; if I would know 



104 



ELEMENTS OF 



the falling inflection I am to lay on mind, let me 
form the word into this question, Is it mind or 
mind? and the pronunciation of the last mind, as 
in N°. VII. will be that which I must adopt in 
the sentence ; if I want to know the rising re- 
flection on conscience, I must say, Is it conscience, 
or conscience ? and the first pronunciation of the 
word, as in N°. IV. is that which I must adopt : 
the falling inflection on all will be determined by 
saying, Is it all, or all? as the last all has the in- 
flection sought for. 

In the same manner, if, in the following cou- 
plet of Pope. 

What the weak head with strong-est bias rules 
Is pride; the never failing- vice of fools. 

If in this couplet, I say, we are directed to lay the 
falling inflection on pride, we need only form the 
word into this question — Is it pride, or pride ? 
and the last being the falling inflexion, is that 
which we ought to adopt in reading the couplet. 
It may not, perhaps, be altogether useless to 
observe, that these angular lines may be consider- 
ed as a kind of bars in the music of speaking : 
each of them contain a certain portion of either 
the rising or falling inflection ; but though every 
word in each line is pronounced with the same 
inflection, they are not ail pronounced with the 
same force ; no line can have more than one ac- 
cented or emphatic syllable in it, and the rest, 
though preserving the same inflection, abate of 
the force of sound. 



ELOCUTION. 



105 



With respect to the relative force of these un- 
emphatic words, see Introduction to the Theory 
of Emphasis. 



Utility of a Knowledge of the Inflections of the 
Voice. 

But it will be demanded : suppose we could 
conceive the nature of these inflections ever so 
clearly, of what use will it be? I answer that as 
the sense and harmony of a sentence depend so 
much on the proper application of these inflec- 
tions, it will be of infinite use to an indhTerent 
reader to know how a good reader applies them. 

It will, perhaps, be objected, that an attention 
to these inflections, marked upon paper, will be 
apt to embarrass the mind of the reader, which 
should be wholly employed on the sense of the 
writer. To this objection it may be answered, 
that the very same argument will lie against the 
use of pauses in printing ; and the ancient Greek 
method of writing without any intervals between 
words, will, according to this reasoning, be by 
far the most eligible. The truth is, every thing 
new embarrasses ; and if we have already ac- 
quired an art in an imperfect way, the means of 
facilitating a more perfect acquisition of it, will 
at first retard our progress : if a child has once 
learned to read tolerably, without having the 
words divided into syllables, such a division will 



106 ELEMENTS OF 

appear new and embarrassing to him ; and though 
s} ikibication is so coniessediy useful to learners, 
those who can once read without it, would be ra- 
ther puzzled than assisted by it. To those, there- 
fore, who already read well, this system of inflec- 
tions is not addressed. What help do they stand 
in need^of who are sufficiently perfect ? It is to 
the learner only, and he who is in doubt about the 
best method of reading a passage, that this assis- 
tance is recommended ; and it may be with con- 
fidence asserted, that if such a one will but bes- 
tow half the time to acquire a knowledge of these 
inflections that is usually spent in learning the 
garnet, he will have no reason to repent his la- 
bour. 

A want of instructing youth early in the know- 
ledge of inflections, is the great occasion of em- 
barrassment in teaching them to read. We can tell 
them they are too high or too low, too loud ortoo soft, 
tooforcible, or too feeble, and that they eitherpause, 
or continue the voice in the wrong place : but 
we have no way of conveying to them their error, 
if they make use of a wrong inflection ; though 
tnis may actually be the case, where they are with- 
out fault in every other particular : that is, there 
may be a wrong slide of the voice upon a parti- 
cular word, though it is neither pronounced too 
high nor too low, too loud nor too soft, too forci- 
bly nor too feebly, nor with any improper pause 
or continuation of voice. Let us suppose, for 
example, a youth little instructed in reading were 
to pronounce the following sentence : 



ELOCUTION. 



107 



If we have no regard to our own character, we ought to have 
some regard to the characters of others. 

There is the greatest probability, I say, that such 
a reader would pronounce the first emphatic word 
own with the rising, and the last emphatic word 
others with the falling inflection, which by no 
means brings out the sense of the sentence to the 
best advantages. To tell him he must lay more 
stress upon the word own, will by no means set 
him right, unless the kind of stress is conveyed ; 
for he may increase the stress upon both the em- 
phatic words, without removing the impropriety, 
In the same manner, if in reading the following 
passage. 

Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord ! for in 
thy sight shall no man living be justified. 

If, in pronouncing this passage, I say, the rea- 
der neglects placing an emphasis on the last thy, 
it will be in vain to tell him he ought to fay a 
stress on that word, unless we direct him to the 
kind Of stress ; for though, in the former instance 
the emphasis with the failing inflection was the 
true emphasis on own, the same emphasis on thy, 
in the latter instance, would utterly destroy the 
meaning : it is evident, therefore, if once a youth 
were taught to distinguish accurately the rising 
and falling inflection, how easily and methodical- 
ly instruction in reading might be conveyed. 

At this point the present treatise might finish ; 
and, it is presumed, not without having added 



108 ELEMENTS OF 

something to the art of reading. A method which 
conveys to us some of the essential turns of voice 
in a good reader or speaker, cannot be without its 
advantages. But something farther is proposed. 
An attempt will be made to point out several of 
those varieties in the sense and structure of a sen- 
tence which severally demand a particular appli- 
cation of these inflexions ; from a variety of these 
examples, general rules will be drawn, and the 
whole doctrine of inflections will be reduced into 
something like a system. A first essay on an un- 
treated subject can scarcely be exempt from a 
multitude of inaccuracies ; and obscurity is the 
natural attendant on novelty ; but if any advan- 
tages, however small, are the result of this novel- 
ty, the candid and judicious reader, who under- 
stands the difficulty of the undertaking, will not 
think even these small advantages entirely unwor- 
thy of his attention. 



Practical System of the Inflections of the Voice. 



Words adopt particular inflections either accord- 
ing to the particular signification they bear, or as 
they are either differently arranged or connected 
with other words. The first application of inflec- 
tion relates to emphasis, which will be consi- 
dered at large in its proper place : the last relates 
to that application of inflection, which arises from 



ELOCUTION. 



109 



the division of a sentence into its component 
parts ; and this is the object of punctuation. 
Punctuation, or the division of a sentence, has 
been already treated in the former part of this 
work : we now proceed to apply the doctrine of 
inflection to that of punctuation, by shewing what 
turns or slides of voice are most suitable to the 
several distinctions, rests, and pauses of a sen- 
tence. But before any rules for applying the in- 
flections are laid down, perhaps it will be neces- 
say again to take notice, that though there are but 
two simple or radically different inflections, the 
rising and falling, yet the latter is divisible into 
two kinds of very different and even opposite im- 
port. The falling inflection without a fail of the 
voice, or, in other words, that inflection of voice 
which consists with a downward slide, in a high 
and forcible tone, may either be applied to that 
part of a sentence where a portion of sense is 
formed, as at the word unjustly, Plate II. No. 
XX. or to that part where no sense is formed, as 
at the word temperance, Plate I. No. VI. ; but 
when this downward slide is pronounced in a 
lower and less forcible tone than the preceding 
words, it indicates not only that the sense, but 
the sentence is concluded. 

It must be carefully noted, therefore, that when- 
ever the falling inflection is said to be on a word, it 
it is not meant that this inflection is to be pro- 
nounced in a low and feeble tone, unless the sen- 
tence is concluded ; and that even a perfect sen- 
tence is not always to be pronounced with this 

K 



1 10 ELEMENTS OF 

inflection in a low tone, will be shewn hereafter 
under the article Final Pause, or Period. 

See a farther explanation of this definition, 
Plate III. N°. I. and IV. 

The rising inflection is denoted by the acute 
accent, thus (') 

The fallen inflection is denoted by the grave 
accent, thus ( v ) 



COMPACT SENTENCE. 

Direct Period, 

Rule I. Every direct period, so constructed 
as to have its two principal constructive parts 
connected by correspondent conjunctions, re- 
quires the long pause with the rising inflection at 
the end of the first principal constructive mem- 
ber. 

EXAMPLES. 

As we cannot discern the shadow moving along the dial-plate, 
so the advances we make in knowledge are only perceivable by 
the distance gone over. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive 
it moving ; so our advances in learning, consisting of insensible 
steps, are only perceivable by the distance. 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but 
did not perceive it moving ; and it appears the grass has grown, 
though nobody ever saw it grow: so the advances we make in 
knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only percei- 
vable by the distance. 



ELOCUTION. HI 

Each of these three sentences consists of two 
principal correspondent parts; the first commenc- 
ing with as, and the last with so; as the first mem- 
ber of the first sentence is simple, it is marked 
with a comma only at dial-plate ; as the second 
is compounded, it is marked with a semicolon at 
moving ; and as the last is compounded, it is 
marked with a colon at grow ; this punctuation is 
according to the general rules of pausing, and 
agreeable to good sense ; for it is certainly pro 
per that the time of the pause should increase 
with the increase and complexity of the members 
to which it is annexed, as more time is required 
to comprehend a large and complicated member 
than a short and simple one : but whatever may 
be the time taken up in pausing at the different 
points, the inflection annexed to them must al- 
ways be the same ; that is, the comma, semico- 
lon, and colon, must invariably have the rising 
inflection. See p. 90. 

The same may be observed of the following 
sentences: Seep. 53. 



Although I fear it may be a shame to be dismayed at the en- 
trance of my discourse in defence of a most valiant man ; and 
that it no ways becomes me, while Milo is more concerned for the 
safety of the state than for himself, not to show the same greatness 
of mind in behalf of him ; yet this new form of prosecution terri- 
fies my eyes, which, whatever way they turn, want the ancient cus- 
tom of the forum, and the former manner of trials. 

Cicero's Oration for Milo. 

Although son Marcus, as you have now been a hearer of Cratip- 
puggfor a year, and this at Athens, you ought to abound in the pre- 
cepts and doctrines of philosophy, by reason of the great charac- 
ter both of your instructor and the city, one of which can furnish 



112 



ELEMENTS OF 



you with knowledge, and the other with examples ; yet, as I al- 
ways to my advantage joined the Latin tongue with the Greek, 
and I have done it not onlv in oratory, but likewise in rjhilosophy, 
J think you ougnt to ao the same that you may be equally conver- 
sant in both languages. Cicero's Offices, book h chap. 1. 



These sentences begin with the concessive 
conjunction although, and have their correspon- 
dent conjunction yet ; and these conjunctions 
form the two principal constructive members. 
The words huh, and examples? therefore, at the 
end of the first members, must have the rising in- 
flection, and here must be the long pause. 

Rule II. Every direct period, consisting of two 
principal constructive parts, and having only the 
iirst part commence with a conjunction, requires 
the rising inflection and long pause at the end of 
this part. See p. 54. 

EXAMPLES. 

As in my speculations I have endeavoured to extinguish passion 
and prejudice, I am still desirous of doing some good in this par- 
\icular. Spectator. 

Here the sentence divides itself into two cor- 
respondent parts at prejudice ; and as the word 
so is understood before the words / am, they 
must be preceded by the long pause and rising 
inflection. 

If hr.puder.ee prevailed as much in the forum and courts of jus- 
tice, as insoler.ee does in the country and places of less resort ; 
Aulus Caeeina would submit as much to the impudence of Septus 
^Ebutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence whei 
Faulted by him. . $± 



ELOCUTION. 



113 



If I have any genius, which I am sensible can be but very small ; 
or any readiness in speaking, in which I do not deny but I have 
been much conversant ; or any skill in oratory, from an acquain- 
tance with the best arts to which I confess I have been always in- 
clined : no one has a better right to demand of me the fruit of alj 
these things than this Aulus Licinius. Cicero's Oration for Archias 

If, after surveying- the whole earth at once, and the several plan- 
ets that lie within its neighbourhood, we contemplate those wide 
fields of ether, that reach in height as far as from Saturn to the 
fixed stars, and run abroad, almost to an infinitude ; our imagin- 
ation finds its capacity filled with so immense a prospect, and puts 
itself upon the stretch to comprehend it. 

Addison's Spectator, No. 411. 

In the first of these examples, the first part of 
the sentence ends at resort, and the second begins 
at Aulus Carina : in the second sentence, the 
first part ends at inclined, and the second begins 
at no one ; and in the third, the first part ends at 
infinitude, and the second begins at our: be- 
tween these words, therefore, in each sentence, 
must be inserted the long pause and rising in- 
flection. 

All these sentences commence with a conjunc- 
tion, and may be said to have a correspondent 
conjunction commencing the second part of the 
sentence, not expressed, but understood. In the 
first sentence commencing with if, then is under- 
stood at the beginning of the second part; the 
sense of this conjunctive adverb then may be 
plainly perceived to exist by inserting it in the 
sentence, and observing its suitableness when ex- 
pressed : 

If impudence prevailed, as much in the forum and the courts 
*f justice, as insolence does in the country and places of less re 

K 2 



ji4< tiLEMtNiS 01 

sort ; then Aulus Caecina would submitas much to the impudence of 
Sextus iEbutius in this cause, as he did before to his insolence 
when assaulted by him. 

The same insertion of the word then might be 
made in the two last examples commencing with 
if, and the same suitableness would appear ; for 
though correct and animated language tends to 
suppress as much as possible the words that are 
so implied in the sense as to make it unnecessa- 
ry to express them, yet if, when inserted, they 
are suitable to the sense, it is a proof that the 
structure of the sentence is perfectly the same, 
whether these superfluous words are expressed 
or not. 

The exception to this rule is, when the em- 
phatical word in the conditional part of the sen- 
tence is in direct opposition to another word in 
the conclusion, and a concession is implied in the 
former, in order to strengthen the argument in 
the latter ; for in this case the middle of the sen- 
tence has the falling, and the latter member the 
rising inflection. 



If we have no regard for religion in youth, we ought to have 
some regard for it in age. 

If we have no regard for our own -character, we ought to have 
some regard for the character of others. 

In these examples, we find the words youth, 
and own character, have the falling inflection, and 
both periods end with the rising inflection ; but 
if these sentences had been formed so as to make 



ELOCUTION 



115 



the latter member a mere inference from, or con- 
sequence of the former, the general rule would 
have taken place, and the first emphatic word 
would have had the rising, and the last the falling- 
inflection. 

EXAMPLES. 

If we have no regard for religion in youth, we have seldom any 
regard for it in age. 

If we have no regard for our own character, it can scarcely 
be expected that we could have any regard for the characters of 

others. 

Rule III. Direct poriods which commence 
with particles of the present and past tense, con- 
sist of two parts ; between which must be inser- 
ted the long pause and rising inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

Having already shown how the fancy is affected by the works 
of nature, and afterwards considered in general both the works 
of nature and of art, how .they mutually assist and complete each 
other, in forming such scenes and prospects as are most apt to de- 
light the mind of the beholder ; 1 shall in this paper throw togeth- 
er some reflections on that particular art, which has a moreimme- 
diate tendency than any other, to produce those primary pleasures 
of the imagination, which have hitherto been the subject of this 
discourse. Sped. No. 415. 

The sense is suspended in this sentence, till 
the word beholder, and here is to be placed the 
long pause and rising inflection ; in this place also, 
it is evident, the word now might be inserted in 
perfect conformity to the sense. 



116 



ELEMENTS OF 



Exception. 



When the last word of the first part of these 
sentences requires the strong emphasis, the fal- 
ling inflection must be used instead of the rising. 

Hannibal being- frequently destitute of money and provisions, 
with no recruits of strength in case of ill fortune, and no encour- 
agement even when successful ; it is not to be wondered at that 
his affairs began at length to decline. 

Goldsmith's Rom. Hist. Vol. i. p. 278. 

In this sentence, the phrase even when success- 
ful, demands the strong emphasis, and must there- 
fore be pronounced with the falling inflection ; it 
mav be observed likewise, that these sentences 
are of the nature of those constructed on conjunc- 
tions ; as the last member of this would easily 
admit of then at the beginning, to show a kind 
of condition in the former, which corresponds 
with and modifies the latter. 



Inverted Period. 

Rule I. Every period, where the first part 
forms perfect sense by itself, but is modified or 
determined in its signification by the latter, has 
the rising inflection and long pause between these 
parts as in the direct period. See p. 53. 



ELOCUTION 



EXAMPLES. 



117 






Gratian very often recommends the fine taste, as the utmost 
perfection of an accomplished man. 

In this sentence, the first member ending at 
taste forms perfect sense, but is qualified by the 
last: for Gratian is not said simply to recommend 
the fine taste, but to recommend it in a certain 
way ; that is, as the utmost perfection of an ac- 
complished man. The same may be observed 
of the following sentence : 

Persons of good taste expect to be pleased, at the same time 
they are informed. 

Here perfect sense is formed at pleased; but is is 
not meant that persons of good taste are pleased 
in general, but with reference to the time they are 
informed : the words taste and pleased, therefore, 
in these sentences, we must pronounce with the 
rising inflection, and accompany this inflection, 
with a pause. For the same reasons, the same 
pause and inflection must precede the word though 
in the following examples : 

I can desire to perceive those things that God has prepared for 
those that love him, though they be such as eye hath not seen, ear 
heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. 

Lockz. 

The sound of love makes your soft heart afraid, 

And guard itself, though but a child invade. Waller. 



118 



ELEMENTS OF 



Loose Sentence. 



A loose sentence has been shown to consist of 
a period, either direct or inverted, and an addi- 
tional member which does not modify it ; or, in 
other words, a loose sentence is a member con- 
taining perfect sense by itself, followed by some 
other member or members, which do not restrain 
or qualify its signification. According to this 
definition, a loose sentence must have that mem- 
ber which forms perfect sense detached from those 
that follow, by a long pause and the falling inflec- 
tion. See p. 54. 

As, in speaking, the ear seizes every occasion 
of varying the tone of voice which the sense will 
permit ; so, in reading, we ought as much as pos- 
sible to imitate the variety of speaking, by taking 
every opportunity of altering the voice in corres- 
pondence with the sense : the most general fault 
of printing, is to mark those members of loose 
sentences, which form perfect sense, with a com- 
ma, instead of a semicolon, or colon ; and a sim- 
ilar, as well as the most common fault of readers, 
is to suspend the voice at the end of these mem- 
bers, and so to run the sense of one member into 
another \ by this means, the sense is obscured, 
and a monotony is produced, instead of that dis- 
tinctness and variety which arises from pronoun- 
cing these members with such an inflection of 



ELOCUTION. 119 

voice as marks a certain portion of perfect sense, 
not immediately connected with what follows ; 
for as a member of this kind does not depend tor 
its sense on the following member,* it ought to be 
pronounced in such a manner, as to show its inde- 
pendence on the succeeding member, and its 
dependence on the period, as forming but a part 
of it. 

In order to convey precisely the import of these 
members, it is necessary to pronounce them with 
the falling inflection, without suffering the voice to 
fall gradually as at a period ; by which means 
the pause becomes different from the mere com- 
ma, which suspends the voice, and marks imme- 
diate dependence on what follows ; and from the 
period, which marks not only an independence on 
what follows, but an exclusion of whatever may 
follow, and therefore drops the voice as at a con- 
clusion. As this inflection is produced by a cer- 
tain portion of perfect sense, which, in some de- 
gree, separates the member it fails on, from those 
that follow, it may not improperly be called the 
disjunctive inflection. An example will assist us 
in comprehending tiiis important inflection in rea- 
ding: 

All superiority and pre-eminence that one man can have over 
another, may be reduced to the notion of quality ; which, consid- 
ered at large, is either that of fortune, body or mind ; the first 
is thai which consists in birth, title, or riches ; and is the most 
foreign to our natures, and what we can the least call our own, of 
any of the three kinds of quality. 

Sped. No. 219. 



120 



ELEMENTS OF 



In the first part of this sentence, the falling in- 
flection takes place on the word quality ; for this 
member, we find, contains perfect sense, and the 
succeeding members are not necessarily con- 
nected with it : the same inflection takes place in 
the next member on the word riches; which, with 
respect to the sense of the member it terminates, 
and its connexion with the following members, is 
exactly under the same predicament as the for- 
mer, though the one is marked with a comma, 
and the other with a semicolon, which is the 
common punctuation in all the editions of the 
Spectator : a very little reflection, however, will 
shew us the necessity of adopting the same pause 
and inflection on both the above-mentioned words, 
as this inflection not only marks more precisely 
the completeness of sense in the members they 
terminate, but gives a variety to the period, by 
making the first, and the succeeding members, 
end in a different tone of voice ; if we were to 
read all the members as if marked with commas, 
that is, as if the sense of the members were abso- 
lutely dependent on each other, the necessity of 
attending to this inflection of voice in loose sen- 
tences would more evidently appear. This divi- 
sion of a sentence is sometimes, and ought al- 
ways to be marked with a semicolon, as in the 
following sentence at the word possess : 

EXAMPLE. 

Foolish men are more apt to consider what they have lost than 
what they possess ; and to fix their eyes upon those who are richer 
than themselves, rather those who are under greater difficulties. 

Spectator^ No. 574. 



ELOCUTION. 



121 






But though we sometimes find these indepen- 
dent members of sentences pointed properly by 
the semicolon, we much oftener see them marked 
only by a comma ; and thus are they necessarily 
confounded with those members which are de- 
pendent on the succeeding member, where a com- 
ma is the proper punctuation. An and, a which, 
a where, or any of the connective words, com- 
mencing the succeeding member, is a sufficient 
reason with most printers for pointing the prece- 
ding member with a comma, even where these 
connective words do not qualify the preceding 
member, and consequently do not join members 
together, as they are parts of each other, but as 
they are parts of the period ; which is the case in 
the examples already produced. 

The following examples afford a proof of the 
necessity of adopting the falling inflection, in or- 
der to separate the first member which contains 
perfect sense, from those which follow, let the 
punctuation be what it will. 

The soul, considered abstractedly from its passions, is of a remiss 
and sedentary nature, slow in its resolves, and languishing in its 
executions. ' Spectator, No. 255. 

The faculty (taste,) must in some degree be bdm with us, and 
it very often happens/that those who have other qualities in per- 
fection are wholly void of this. Ibid No. 409. 

This therefore is a good office (the planting of trees) which is 
suited to the meanest capacities, and which may be performed by 
multitudes, who have not abilities to deserve well of their country, 
and recommend themselves to their posterity by any other method. 

Ibid. No. 583. 



In these last examples we may observe, that 
the first member, which is distinguished by a 



122 



ELEMENTS OF 



comma in most editions of the Spectator, 
is exactly under the same predicament with 
the member of the two former examples, 
which is marked with a semicolon ; and which 
is unquestionably the true method of pointing 
them : for though, in the compact sentence, 
where the sense is suspended till the whole is fin- 
ished, the semicolon and colon have the rising in- 
flection, as in examples, p. 90 ; yet, in the loose 
sentence, these points are generally accompanied 
by the falling inflection, as in the last examples : 
and it must be insisted on, that unless the line 
be drawn between such members as contain per- 
feet, and such as contain imperfect sense, the 
parts of a sentence cannot be pronounced to the 
best advantage ; if by continuing .the voice ex- 
actly in the same suspense, one thought is run 
into another which does not really belong to it, 
the sense must be injured ; and though the mind 
is often too well informed of the subject to be 
much at a loss for the sense, let the punctuation 
be what it will, yet it is impossible the sense of 
an author can be readily perceived in its full beau- 
ty, when it is obscured by an erroneous pronun- 
ciation of the sentence which conveys it. 

But though sense is often, harmony is much 
more frequenrly concerned in a proper use of this 
disjunctive inflection. The comma, occurs so 
much oftener than any other pause, that it is high- 
ly important to harmonious delivery that it should 
not be introduced oftener than is necessary; every 
good reader, therefore, will take frequent oppor- 



ELOCUTION. 



123 



tunities of changing the comma into the semico- 
lon, as it is chiefly from not attending to this 
distinction that the common punctuation is so 
unfavourable to variety. And if the correctors 
of the press, who are generally very intelligent 
men, would adopt this distinction of a period in- 
to a compact and loose sentence, and in the latter 
always place a semicolon, or colon, where the 
former part of the sentence forms perfect sense, 
and is not modified by the latter, it is inconcei- 
vable how many errors in reading might be avoi- 
ded : it must be owned, indeed, that the difficul- 
ty of always precisely distinguishing between a 
member, which, by modifying the preceding 
member, is necessarily" connected with it, and 
another, which only adds to what precedes, with- 
out modifying the sense, is no small extenuation 
of this common error of printers; but it is presume 
ed, that our not being able to do it in difficult ca- 
ses is no reason we should neglect it in obvious 
ones, and these are sufficiently numerous to be of 
the utmost importance to our pronunciation. 
This will more evidently appear by the following 
rules, on the use of the falling inflection in the 
loose sentence. 

Rule I. Every member of a sentence forming 
consistent sense, and followed by two other 
members which do not modify or restrain its sig- 
nification, admits of the falling inflection. 



EXAMPLES. 



In short, to cut off all cavilling- against the ancients, and particu. 
larly those of the warmer climates, who have most heat and life 



124 



ELEMENTS ©F 



in their imaginations, we are to consider that the rule of observing 
what the French call the bienseance in an allusion, has been found 
out of later years, and in the cdidcr regions of the world j where 
we would make some amends for our want of* force, and spirit, by 
a scrupulous nicety and exactness in our compositons. 

Spectator, No. 160. 

In this example we see the falling inflection at 
world very properly marked with a semicolon, 
though followed by the word where, which seems 
so intimately to connect them ; and which might 
be shown in a thousand similar passages, to in- 
duce our printers to mark these members with 
a comma only. 

It is this that recommends variety, where the mind is every in- 
stant called off to something- new, and the attention not suffered to 
dwell too long on any particular object. Spectator, No. 412. 

For this reason, there is nothing more enlivens a prospect than 
rivers, jetteaus, and falls of water, where the scene is perpetually 
shifting and entertaining the sight even' moment with something 
that is new. Ibid. No. 412. 

In these instances, though the word water in 
the last sentence, and the word variety in the pre- 
ceding example, are marked with a comma only, 
precision, as well as harmony, require the failing 
inflection ; the first member is a kind of text to 
the whole sentence, and is not so closely connect- 
ed with the succeeding members as these last are 
with each other ; an occasional sense of the pro- 
priety of this distinction makes our printers some- 
times point the first member of a similar sentence 
with the semicolon. 



ELOCUTION. 



EXAMPLE. 



At a little* distance from my friend's house, among the ruins 
of an old abbey, there is along walk of aged elms ; which are shot 
up so very high, that when one passes under them, the rooks and 
crows that rest upon the tops of them seem to be cawing in anoth- 
er region. Spectator, No. 110. 

Here the first member is very properly pointed 
with a semicolon at elms, and the emphatic pause 
on this word gives a precision and variety to the 
whole sentence ; but as an instance how little 
the generality of our punctuists are guided by the 
sense of the sentence, we need only produce the 
period which immediately follows : 

I am very much delighted with this sort of noise, which I con- 
sider as a kind of natural prayer to that Being who supplies the 
wants of his whole creation, and who, in the beautiful language of 
the Psalms, feedeth the young ravens that call upon him. Ibid. 

In these two last instances, the first part of each 
sentence is connected with the succeeding mem- 
ber by the relative which ; but as this word does 
not restrain, but only explain and extend the 
meaning of the preceding member, the latter, like 
the former, ought to be marked with the semico- 
lon, and pronounced with the falling inflection. 

Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oratore with some pre- 
cepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part he affirms, 
that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and an indif- 
ferent one who is master of this shall gain much greater applause. 

Sped. No. 541. 



l2 



126 



ELEMENTS OF 



In this instance we find the word action often 
pointed with a comma only, though it is certain 
that it ought to be pronounced with .the falling 
inflection; for as the succeeding word without 
does not modify it, and as the next member ne- 
cessarily requires the rising inflection at succeed, 
the failing inflection on the word action adds 
greatly to the precision and variety of the whole 
sentence. 

Antithetic Member. 

When sentences have two parts corresponding 
with each other, so as to form an antithesis, the 
first part must always terminate with the rising 
inflection. 

EXAMPLES- 

We are always complaining- our clays are few, and acting as 
though there should be no end of them. Spectator, No. 93. 

I imagined that I was admitted into a long spacious gallery, 
which had one side covered with pieces, of all the famous paint- 
ers who are now living; and the other with the greatest masters 
who are dead. Ibid. No. 83 # 

The wicked may indeed taste a malignant kind of pleasure, in 
those actions to which they are accustomed whilst in this life; 
but when they are removed from all those objects which are here 
apt to gratify them, they will naturally become their own tor- 
mentors. Ibid. No. 447. 

The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those of 
s6nse, nor so refined as those of the understanding. Ibid. No. 411 

In all these examples,- the first part of every 
antithesis might form a perfect sentence by itself; 



ELOCUTION. 127 

but the mutual relation between the former and 
latter part, forms as necessary a connexion be- 
tween them as if the former part formed no sense 
by itself, and the latter part modified and re- 
stained the sense of the former; and therefore 
the word Jew, in the first example, the word 
sense in the second, the word living in the third, 
and the words this life in the fourth, must ne- 
cessarily adopt the rising inflection. For the 
same reason, the same inflection must take place 
on the word succeed in the following example : 

Cicero concludes his celebrated books de Oralore, with some 
precepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part, he 
affirms, that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and 
an indifferent one, who is master of this shall gain much greater 
applause. Spectator, No. 541. 



Penultimate Member. 

An exception to the foregoing rules forms 
another rule, which forbids us, without absolute 
necessity, to adopt the falling inflection on the last 
member but one. This rule is founded on the 
natural perception of harmony in the ear, which 
has as much dislike to a too great similitude of 
consecutive sounds as the understanding has to a 
want of sufficient distinction between members 
differently connected. When this distinction, 
therefore, is sufficiently obvious, and no improper 
connexion is formed by using the right inflection, 
the ear always requires this inflection on the pen- 
ultimate member : for as the last member must 



128 



ELEMENTS OF 



almost always be terminated by the falling in- 
flection at the period, a falling inflection imme- 
diately preceding it in the penultimate member, 
would be too sudden a repetition of nearly simi- 
lar sounds : hence arises the propriety of the 
following rules. 

Rule L Every member of a sentence em- 
mediately preceding the last, requires the rising 
inflection. 

EXAMPLES. 

Aristotle tells us, that the world is a copy or transcaipt of those 
ideas which are in the mind of the first Being 1 ; and that those 
ideas which are in the mind of man are a transcript of the world : 
to this we may add, that words are the transcript of those ideas 
which are in the mind of m&n, and that writing- or printing- are 
the transcript of words. Sped. No. 166. 

In this example, if there were no connexion 
between the two last members from the antithesis 
they contain, the rising inflection would be ne- 
cessary at the end of the penultimate member, 
for the sake of sound. 

In short, a modern Pindaric writer, compared with Pindar, is 
like a sister among the Camisars, compared with Virgil's Sybil ; 
there is the distortion, grimace, and outward figure, but nothing 
of that divine impulse which raises the mind above itself, and 
makes the sounds more than human. Sped. No. 160. 

The florist, the planter, the gardener, the husbandman, when 
they are accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs 
to a country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed 
of them. ' Ibid. No. 93. 

In the first of these examples the sentence 
might have finished at itself, and in the last at 



ELOCUTION. 



129 



Rfe; for the succeeding members do not modify 
them, but, as they are penultimate members, 
they necessarily require the rising inflection. 

He has annexed a secret pleasure to the idea of any thing that 
is new or uncommon, that he might encourage us in the pursuit 
after kn6wledge, and engage us to search into the wonders of his 
creation; for every new idea brings such a pleasure along with it 
as rewards any pains we have taken in the acquisition, and con- 
sequently serves as a motive to put us upon fresh discoveries. 

Ibid. No. 413. 



i 



In this example, we see that it is not the per- 
ct sense of a member which alone qualifies it 
br the falling inflection ; it must be followed by 
one member at least, which does not admit this 
pause; otherwise it is transferred from the first 
to the succeeding member, which is the case in 
this example. The first compound member 
forms perfect sense at the word knowledge, and 
the succeeding member is not necessarily con- 
nected with it; but as this member forms per- 
fect sense likewise, and is followed by one, which 
cannot be united with it by the comma or rising 
inflection ; therefore, to avoid the ill effect of two 
successive pauses exactly the same, the falling 
inflection must be placed on the word creation. 

Rule II. As a farther illustration of this, we 
may observe, that when the first member forms 
perfect sense, and is followed by two members 
necessarily connected, the failing inflection must 
be placed on the first. 

It shall ever he my study to make discoveries of this nature in 
human life, and to settle proper distinctions between the virtues 
and perfections of mankind, and those false colours and resem- 
blances of them that shine alike in the eyes of the vulgar. 

JlddisQU. 



130 ELEMENTS OF 






In this example, we may observe that the fal- 
ling inflection might have been placed on the 
second member, if the second and third me .li- 
bers had not been necessarily connected by an 
antithesis j which shows that the falling inflection 
requires the member it is placed on, not only to 
have perfect sense independent on the succeeding 
member, but at the same time requires the suc- 
ceeding member to be dependent on a third. 

Exceptions* 

Emphasis, which controls every other rule in 
reading, forms an exception to f&iv; which is, 
that where an emphatic word is in the first mem- 
ber of a sentence, and the last has no emphaticai 
word, this penultimate member then terminates 
with the falling inflection. 

EXAMPLES. 

I must therefore desire the reader to remember, that by the 
pleasures of the imagination, I meant only such pleasures as 
arise originally from sight; and that 1 divide these pleasures in 
two kinds. Sped. No. 411. 

In this sentence the word sight is emphaticai, 
and therefore, though in the penultimate member, 
must not have the rising, but the falling inflection, 
as this is the inflection best suited to the sense of 
the emphatic phrase. See article Emphasis* 

The person he chanced to see was, to appearance, an old sor 
did blind man ; but upon his following 1 him from place to place, 
he at last found, by his own confession, that he was Plutus, the 
God of Itich.es; and that he was just come out of the house of a 
miser. Spectator, No. 464 



ELOCUTION. 131 

In this sentence the words God of Riches, as 
opposed to the words old sordid blind man, are 
emphatical, and, therefore, though in the penulti- 
mate member, require the falling inflection. The 
same may be observed of the word most in the 
following sentence: 

- If they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which, I think, never 
happened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. 

In this sentence we find the connexion inter- 
rupted, and the cadence injured, by giving the 
falling inflection to the word most; but if we 
were to give this word the rising inflection for the 
sake of preserving the cadence and connexion., 
we should lose so much force as would render 
this pronunciation less eligible upon the whole. 
The author, therefore, is answerable for this in- 
compatibility of the strongest sense with the 
best sound, and the reader is reduced to choose 
the lesser evil. 

The same variance between emphasis and con- 
nexion may be observed in the following sen- 
tence : 

Religious hope does not only bear up the mind under her suffer- 
ings, but makes her rejoice in them, as they may be the means of 
procuring her the great and ultimate end of all her hope. 

Spectator, No. 471. 

Here we see the word rejoice, in opposition, 
bear up the mind, require, from its being em- 
phatical, the falling inflection; and yet, from its 
being modified by what follows, it ought to have 
the rising. 



132 ELEMENTS OF 

As a corollary to the former rules, it follows, 
that if a loose sentence, having one member 
forming perfect sense, and not modified by what 
follows, is succeeded by another member, which 
forms perfect sense likewise, unmodified by suc- 
ceeding members; that as often as members of 
this kind occur, without finishing the sentence, 
they ought to be marked with semicolons, or co- 
lons, and pronounced, like a series, with the fal- 
ling inflection. 



EXAMPLE. 



This persuasion of the truth of the gospel, without the evidence 
which accompanies it, would not have been so firm and so durable; 
it wouWl not have acquired new force with age: It would not 
have resisted the torrent of time } and have passed from age to 
age to our own days. 

In this example a perfect sentence might be 
formed at durable; and as it is not modified by 
what follows, it ought to have the falling inflection : 
A perfect sentence might also be formed at age ; 
which, being under the same predicament as the 
former member, requires the falling inflection 
likewise : a sentence in the same manner might 
be formed at time ; but as this is the penultimate 
member, it must necessarily adopt the rising in- 
flection, according to the rule laid down in the 
preceding article. 

It may be necessary to observe, that when 
these members of sentences marked with a semi- 
colon, or colon, follow each other in a series, 
though they must all have the falling inflection, 



: 



ELOCUTION. 13 3 

his inflection must be pronounced in a higher 
one of voice on the second than on the first, and 
on the third than on the second ; to prevent the 
monoteny which would otherwise necessarily be 
the consequence : A series of colons, therefore, 
must be considered as a compound series, and 
pronounced according to the rules laid down for 
the pronunciation of that species of sentence 
which will be the subject of the next article. 

EXAMPLE. 

Natural reason inclines men to mutual converse and society : It 
implants in them a strong affection for those who spring- from 
them : It excites them to form communities, and join in public 
assemblies : And, for these ends, to endeavour to procure both the 
necessaries and conveniencies of life. Cicero. 

In this sentence the falling inflection in the 
common level of the voice is placed on the word 
society ; the same inflection, with a little more 
force, and in a somewhat higher tone of voice, 
takes place on the words spring from them; 
and the word assemblies has the same inflection a 
little increased in force and height ; this gradual 
increase of force and height on the three first 
members, gives variety and harmony to the de- 
clension of voice on the next member, which 
forms the period. 

Series. 

As variety is necessary in the delivery of almost 
every separate portion of a sentence, it must be 
much more so where the sentence is so construct- 
or 



134 



ELEMENTS OF 



ed that perfectly similar portions succeed each 
other to a considerable number. If the ear is 
displeased at the similar endings of two or three 
members, which, though unlike in other res- 
pects, are necessarily connected in sense; how 
intolerable must it be to hear a long detail of 
perfectly similar members, pronounced with ex- 
actly the same tone of voice ! The instinctive 
taste for harmony in the most undisciplined ear 
would be disgusted with such a monotony : And 
we find few readers, even among those who are 
incapable of diversifying any other species of 
sentence, that do not endeavour to throw some 
variety into an enumeration of many similar par- 
ticulars. An attempt to point out the most har- 
monious and emphatic variety, and to reduce it to 
such rules as may help to guide us in the most 
frequent and obvious instances, is one of the prin- 
cipal objects of the present essay. 

Nothing, however, can be more various than 
the pronunciation of a series : Almost every dif- 
ferent number of particulars requires a different 
method of varying them ; and even those of pre- 
cisely the same number of particulars, admit of a 
different mode of pronunciation, as the series is 
either cemmencing or concluding, simple or com- 
pound ; single or double, or treble, with many 
other varieties too complex to be easily deter- 
mined : but as enumerating several particulars of 
a similar kind, in such a manner as to convey 
them more forcibly to the mind, and at the same 
time to render them agreeable to the ear ; as this, 



ELOCUTION. 



135 



I say, is one of the most striking beauties in 
reading, it will be necessary to give as clear an 
idea as possible of that tone and inflection of voice 
which seems so peculiarly adapted to this species 
of sentence. 

In the first place., then, we may observe, that 
whenever we enumerate particulars with em- 
phasis, or more than ordinary precision, we are 
apt to give some of the first, at least, such a tone 
as marks not only a distinct enumeration but a 
complete one ; that is, the voice falls into such a 
tone as shews each particular article of enumera- 
tion to be completed, but not the whole number; 
or, in other words, it is exactly that tone of voice 
we use, when, in collecting several particalars 
into one aggregate, we distinguish with more 
than ordinary precision each particular from the 
other. In the pronunciation of sentences of this 
kind, the similar members would naturally adopt 
the falling inflection ; or that inflection we use on 
the words voluntarily, deter minaiely, knowing* 
ly, &c. N° X, XI, XII, XIII, &c. of the 
scale of sounds, Plate II. p. 100; which inflec- 
tion not only distinguishes and enforces each 
particular taken separately, but preserves the idea 
of a collective whole. 

But the nature as well as use of this inflection 
will, perhaps, be better understood by recurring- 
to a former example : 

I tell you, though you, though all the world, though an angel 
from heaven were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 



136 



ELEMENTS OF 



If, instead of adopting the falling inflection 
upon you, world, and heaven, we suspend the 
voice upon these words, as we do upon the words 
voluntarily, determinately, knowingly, Sec. N° I, 
II, III, &c. or the words involuntarily, indeter- 
minately, unknowingly, N° X, XI, XII, &c. 
Plate II. we shall soon perceive the propriety of 
using the inflection we are here describing, that 
is, the same inflection with which we pronounce 
the words involuntarily, indeterminately, unknow- 
ingly, &c. N° I, II, III, &x. or the words vol- 
untarily, determ'mately, knowingly, &x. N° X, 
XI, XII, &c. Plate II. And first let us try 
this passage with the rising inflection on each par- 
ticular : 

I tell yon, though y6u, though all the \vr6kl, though an angel 
from heaven, were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

Plow tame and insipid is this asseveration, in 
comparison with the following manner of deliver- 
ing it ! that is, each particular haying the falling 
inflection : 

I tell you, though you, though all tiie world, th®ugh an angel 
from heaven were to affirm the truth of it, I could not believe it. 

The necessity of adopting this inflection in the 
series Will be still more apparent, by repeating 
another passage both with and without it. — And 
first let us try the example, by pronouncing it 
with the voice suspended on every member, as 
the commas seem to indicate ; that is, with the 
rising inflection, as on the words voluntarily, de- 
terminately, knowingly, &c. N° I, II, III, &c. 
or the words involuntarily, indeterminately , un- 
knowingly, N° X, XI, XII, &c. Plate IL 



ELOCUTION. 



137 



The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong- and 
full of sublime ideas ;— the figure of "cUath, the regal crown upon 
his h£ad, his menace of S&taii, his advancing to the c6mbat, the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 

Now let us pronounce each particular of this 
series but the last with the falling inflection, that 
is, with the same inflection as on the words in m 
voluntarily, indeterminately, unknowingly, &c, 
or the words voluntarily, determinately, knowing, 
ly, &c. N° X, XI, XII, &c. Plate II. p. 100. 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
full of sublime ideas; the figure of death, the regal crown upon 
his head, his menace of Satan, his advancing to the cdmbat, the 
outcry at his birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of terrors. 
(See p. 166.) 

The difference of these two methods of pro- 
nouncing this sentence is so obvious as to leave 
no doubt to which we shall give the preference ; 
^but it may not be improper to remark, that in a 
series of this kind, unless the language be very 
emphatical, it is necessary to give the last article 
of the series the rising inflection, as this is the 
point where the sense begins to form ; and this 
point, if emphasis forbid not, always requires 
the suspension of voice marked by the rising in- 
flection. See Compact Sentence, p. 110 and 116. 

Thus having given a general idea of this very 
important figure in reading, it will be necessary 
to enter upon that system of rules, which is cal- 
culated to direct and ascertain the pronunciation 
of it ; but as every series requires different in» 
m2 




138 ELEMENTS OF 

flections, as it either commences or concludes a 
sentence, it may be necessaiy to observe, that by 
the name of a commencing series is meant that 
which begins a sentence, but does not conclude 
it ; and that by the name of a concluding series 
is meant that which ends the sentence, whether 
it begin it or not. As a difference of inflection 
also takes place upon the several members of a 
series, as these members consist of one single 
word, or more words, it will not, perhaps, be im- 
proper to call the series whose members consist 
of single words, a simple series ; and those whose 
members consist of two or more words, a com- 
pound series. In order, therefore, to convey the 
rules that relate to this curious and intricate part 
of reading, it will be necessary to begin with the 
most simple combination of words, though not 
properly a series. 

Simple Series. 

'"Rule I. When two members, consisting of 
single words, commence a sentence, the first 
must have the failing and the last the rising 
inflection. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

The difference of tone which distinguishes the 
commencing words of this sentence, will be much 
more perceptible, if we do but consult explica- 
tion of Plate I. p. 97. 



ELOCUTION 



139 



fr 



Rule II. When two members, consisting of 
single words, conclude a sentence, as the last must 
naturally have the falling inflection, the last but 
one assumes the rising inflection. 

The constitution is strengthened by exercise and temperance. 

This rule is the converse of the former. It 
must, however, be observed, that sentences of 
this kind, which can scarcely be called a series of 
particulars, may, when commencing, assume a 
different order of inflections on the first words, 
when the succeeding clause does not conclude the 
sentence. This may be illustrated by consulting 
Plate I. N° III. and IV.; where we see exercise 
and temperance, when the next clause concludes 
the sentence, as in N° III. adopt one order of in- 
flections ; and the same words, when the next 
clause does not conclude, as in N° IV. adopt a 
quite opposite order. Not that this order in N° 
IV. is absolutely necessary, as that in N° III. ; 
but it may always be adopted when we wish to 
be more harmonious and emphatical. 

Rule III. When three members of a sentence, 
consisting of single words, succeed each other in 
a commencing series, the two last are to be pro- 
nounced as in Rule I. and the first with the falling 
inflection, in a somewhat lower tone than the se- 
cond. 

EXAMPLES. 

Manufactures, trade, and agriculture, naturally employ more 
than nineteen parts of the species in twenty. Spect. No, 115- 



140 



ELEMENTS OF 



A man that has a taste of music, painting, or architecture, is like 
one that has another sense, w hen compared with such as have no 
relish for those arts. Ibid. No. 93. 

In short, a modern Pindaric writer, compared with Pindar, is 
like a sister among- the CamiSars, compared with Virgil's Sybil; 
there is the distortion, grimace, and outward figure, but nothing" 
of that divine impulse, winch raises the mind above itself, and 
makes the sounds more than human. 'Spectator, No. 160. 



Rule IV. When three members of a sentence, 
consisting of single words, succeed each other 
in a concluding series, the two last are to be 
pronounced as in Rule II. and the first with the 
rising inflection in a little higher tone than the se- 
cond. 

EXAMPLES. 

A modern Pindaric writer compared with Pindar, is like a sister 
among the Camisars compared with Virgil's Sybil ; the one gives 
that divine impulse which raises the mind above itself, and makes 
the sounds more than human, while the other abounds with noth-. 
ing but distortion, grimace, and outward figure. 

It may not be improper to observe, that al- 
though the series of four, whether commencing 
or concluding, must necessarily have the first and 
last words inflected alike, and the two middle 
words inflected alike, yet that the series of three 
in a concluding member may, when we are pro- 
nouncing with a degree of solemnity, and wish to 
form a cadence ; in this case, I say, we not only 
may, but must pronounce the first word with the 
falling, the second with the rising, and the last 
with the falling inflection. 



ELOCUTION. 



141 



Rule V. When four members of a sentence, 
consisting of single words, succeed each other in 
a commencing series, and are the only series in 
the sentence, they may be divided into two equal 
portions : the first member of the first portion 
must be pronounced with the rising, and the se- 
cond with the falling inflection, as in Rule II. ; and 
the two members of the last portion exactly the 
reverse, that is according to Rule I. 

EXAMPLES. 

Metals, minerals, plants, and meteors, contain a thousand curi- 
ous properties which are as engaging to the fancy as to the rea- 
son. Sped. No. 420. 

Proofs of the immortality of the soul may justly be drawn from 
the nature of the Supreme Being, whose justice, goddness, wis- 
dom, and veracity, are all concerned in this great point 

Spectator, No. 111. 

The fl6rist, the pUnter, the gardener, the husbandman, when they 
are only accomplishments to the man of fortune, are great reliefs 
to a country life, and many ways useful to those who are possessed 
of them. Ibid. No. 93. 

Rule VI. When four members of a sentence, 
consisting of single words, succeed e"ch other in 
a concluding series, a pause may, as in the for- 
mer rule, divide them into two equal portions : 
but they are to be pronounced with exactly con- 
trary inflections ; that is, the two first must be 
pronounced according to Rule I. and the two last 
according to Rule II. 

EXAMPLE. 

There is something very engaging to the fancy as well as to 
our reason, in the treatise of metals s minerals, pl&nts, and mete- 
ors. Sped. No. 430. 



142 ELEMENTS OF 

An instance of the variety of inflection with 
which a series of four particulars is pronounced, 
and of the diversity of inflection which the series 
requires, as it is either commencing or conclu- 
ding, will be greatly illustrated by the following 
example : 

He who resigns the world, has no temptation to ^nvy, hatred, 
malice, shger, but is in constant possession of a serene mind ; he 
who follows the pleasures of it, which are in this very nature dis- 
appointing-, is in constant search of c&re, solicitude ieir6;se, und 
confusion. Spectator, No. 282. 

The first series in this sentence, being a com- 
mencing series, is pronounced as in Rule V. ; 
and the last, as a concluding series, according to 
Rule VI. 

These rules might be carried to a much grea- 
ter length ; but too nice an attention to them, in 
a long series, might not only be very difficult, but 
give an air of stiffness to the pronunciation, which 
wouid not be compensated by the propriety. It 
may be necessary, however^ to observe, that in a 
long enumeration of particulars, it would not be 
improper to divide them into portions of diree ; 
and if we are not reading extempore, as it may be 
called, this division of a series into portions of 
three ought to commence from the end of the 
series ; that if it is a commencing, we may pro- 
nounce the last portion as in Rule III. ; and if it 
is a concluding series, we may pronounce the last 
portion according to the observation annexed to 
Rule IV. 



ELOCUTION. 1^3 

Rule VII. When a simple series extends to a 
considerable length, we may divide it into por- 
tions of three, beginning from the last : if it be a 
commencing series, pronounce the last three 
words according to Rule III. ; and if it be a con- 
cluding series, pronounce them according to the 
observation added to Rule IV. 

Commensing Series* 

EXAMPLE. 

Love, joy, peace ; long suffering-, gentleness, goodness ; faith, 
meekness, temperance, are the fruits of the Spirit, and against such 
there is no law. 

Concluding Series, 

EXAMPLE. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace ; long suffering, 
gentleness, goodness ; faith, meekness, temperance : — Against 
such there is no law. Galatians, chap. v. 

Commencing Series. 

EXAMPLE. 

Metaphors ; amigmas, mottoes, parables ; fables, dreams, vi- 
sions ; dramatic writings, burlesque, and all the methods of allu- 
sion, are comprehended in Mr. Locke's definition of wit, and Mr. 
Addison's short explanation of it. 

Concluding Series. 

EXAMPLE. 

Mr. Locke's definition of wit, with this short explication, compre- 
hends most of the species of wit ; as metaphors, icnigmas, mottoes, 
parables ; fables, dreams, visions ; dramatic writings, burlesque, 
and all the methods of allusion. Sped. No. 62* 



144 



ELEMENTS OF 



If these observations should appear to have too 
much refinement, and to bestow more labour on 
these passages than is rewarded by the variety 
produced ; it must be remembered, that in form- 
ing a system, and pushing its principles to their 
remotest consequences, — for the sake of shewing 
the extent of these governing principles, and giv- 
ing an air of completeness, and universality to the 
system adopted, it is often necessary to attend to 
particulars more curious than useful ; if, howe- 
ver, we consider, that pronouncing these passages 
in a perfect monotone would be extremely dis- 
gusting, and that some general idea of the variety 
they are capable of, may at least give the ear a hint 
of a better pronunciation, it will not be thought 
useless that so much pains has been bestowed on 
this species of sentence. This consideration may 
encourage us to push our inquiries still farther 
into this laborious part of the subject ; as those 
readers who are disgusted at it, may easily omit 
the perusal, and pass on to something more easy 
and agreeable. 



Compound Series. 

Preliminary Observations. 

When the members of series consist of several 
words, or comprehend several distinct members 



ELOCUTION. 



145 



of sentences, they are under somewhat different 
laws from those consisting of single words. In a 
single series the ear is chiefly consulted, and the 
inflections of voice are so arranged as to produce 
the greatest variety ; but in a compound series 
the understanding takes the lead : For as a num- 
ber of similar members of sentences in succession 
form a sort of climax in the sense, this climax can 
be no way pronounced so forcibly as by adopting 
the same inflection which is used for the strong 
emphasis ; for, by this means, the sense is not on- 
ly placed in a more distinct point of view, but 
the voice enabled to rise gradually upon every 
particular, and thus add to force an agreeable va- 
riety. 

In pronouncing the compound series, the same 
rule may be given as in the simple series : Where 
the compound series commences, the falling in- 
flection takes place on every member but the last ; 
and when the series concludes, it may take place 
on every member except the last but one. It 
must be carefully noted, likewise, that the second 
member ought to be pronounced a little higher, 
and more forcibly than the first, the third than the 
second, and so on ; for which purpose, if the 
members are numerous, it is evidently necessary 
to pronounce the first member in so low a tone as 
to admit of rising gradually on the same inflection 
to the last. 

Rule I. When two commencing members of 
a sentence, each of which consists of more than a 
single word, are in succession, the first member 

N 



^46 ELEMENTS OF 

must terminate with the falling, and the last with 
the rising inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

Moderate exercise, and habitual temperance, strengthen the 
constitution. 

. In this example, we find the first member, en- 
ding at exercise, pronounced with the falling, and 
the second, at temperance, pronounced with the 
rising inflection. 

Rule II. When two successive members, each 
of which consists of more than a single word, 
conclude a sentence, the first member is to be 
pronounced with the rising, and the last with the 
failing inflection, or rather with the falling inflec- 
tion in a lower tone of voice, called the conclu- 
ding inflection. See Plate I. N° III. and IV. 
p. 98. 

EXAMPLE. 

Nothing tends more powerfully to strengthen the constitution 
than moderate exercise and habitual temperance. 

In this example, the first member, at exercise, 
is pronounced with the rising inflection, -and the 
last, at temperance, with the concluding or falling 
inflection, without force, and in a lower tone of 
voice than the preceding words. 

Rule III. When three members of a sentence, 
each of which consists of more than a single word, 
are in a commencing series, the first member 
must be pronounced with the falling inflection, 



■ELOCUTION". 



147 



the second with the same inflection, somewhat 
higher and more forcible, and the third with the 
rising inflection, as in the last member, Rule I. 



EXAMPLES. 

To advise the ignorant, relieve the nSedy, comfort the afrl*cted, 
are duties that fall in our way almost every day of our lives. 

Sped. No. 92. 

In our country, a man seldom sets up for a poel, without attack. 
ing the reputation of all his brothers in the art. The ignorance of 
the moderns, the scribblers of the age, the decay of p6etry, are 
the topics of detraction, with which he makes his entrance into the 
world. Ibid. No 253. 

As the genius of Milton was wonderfully turned to the sublime, 
his subject is the noblest that could have entered into thaahoughts 
of man ; every thing that is truly great and astonishing has a place 
in it ; the whole system of the intellectual warld, the chaos and 
the cre^ion, heaven, earth, and hell, enter into the constitution of 
his poem. ibid. No. 315. 

Ride IV. When three members of a sentence, 
each of which consists of more than a single word , 
are in a concluding series, the falling inflection can 
only fall on the first member, and the two last are 
pronounced exactly like the two concluding mem 
hers, Rule II. 

EXAMPLES. 

Tt was necessary for the world, that arts should be invented and 
improved, books written and transmitted to posterity, nations con" 
quered and civilized. Spectator, No. 255 

All other arts. of perpetuating our ideas, except writing or print- 
ing, continue but a short time : Statues can last but a few thou- 
sands of years, edifices fewer, and colours still fewer than edifices 

Ibid. No. 166 



i 48 ELEMENTS OF 

Our lives, says Seneca, are spent either in doing" nothing at ill, 
or in doing- nothing- to the purpose, or in doing- nothing- that we 
->ught to do. Spect. No. 93. 

If a man would know whether he is possessed of a taste for fine 
writing, I would have him read over the celebrated works of an- 
tiquity, and be very careful to observe whether he tastes the dis- 
tinguishing perfections, or, if 1 may be allowed to call them so, 
the specific qualities of the author he peruses ; whether he is par- 
ticularly pleased with Livy for his manner of telling a st&ry ; with 
Sallust, for his entering into those internal principles of action 
which arise from (he characters and manners of the persons he de- 
scribes ; or with Tacitus, for his displaying those outward motives 
of safety and interest, which gave birth to the whole series of trans- 
actions which he relates. Ibid. No. 409. 

It may here be necessary to observe, that if we 
doubt of the inflections that are to begivento a very 
compound series, the best way to discover them 
will be to reduce the series to a few words, and 
then the proper inflections will be very percepti- 
ble. Suppose, for instance, we contract the 
series in the last example to its radical words, 
which, for example sake, let us suppose to be 
these — whether he is pleased with Livy for his 
story y Sallust for his characters, or Tacitus for 
his motives ; we shall find, by this trial, the same 
radical pronunciation proper both for the original 
and the abridgment. 

Rule V. When four members of a sentence, 
each of which consists of more than a single 
word, are in a commencing series, the three first 
are to be pronounced with the falling inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

Labour or exercise ferments the humours, casts them into their 
pi oper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those 



ELOCUTION. 149 

secret distribi'itions, without which the body cannot subsist in its 
vigour, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. 

Spectator, ISo. 115. 

Rule VI. When four members of a sentence, 
each of which consists of more than a single 
word, follow in a concluding series, the two first 
members only can have the falling inflection, and 
the two last are to be pronounced like the two 
concluding members, Rule II. 



EXAMPLE. 

Notwithstanding all the pains which Cicero took in the education 
of his son, history informs us, that young- Marcus proved a mere 
blockhead; and that Nature (who, it seems, was even with the son 
for her prodigality to the father) rendered him incapable of im- 
proving" by all the rules of Eloquence, the precepts of philasophy, 
his own endeavours* and the most refined conversation in x Athens. 

Spectator, No 307 



Rule VII. When five members of a sentence, 
each of which contains more than a single word, 
follow in a commencing series, the four first may 
be pronounced with the falling inflection ; each 
member rising above the preceding one, and the 
last as in Rule I. 



EXAMPLES. 

The descriptive part of this allegory is likewise very strong and 
full of sublime ideas. The figure of d^ath, the regal crownupon 
his hsad, his menace of Satan, iiis advancing to the cdmbat, the 
outcty at his ; .birth, are circumstances too noble to be passed over 
in silence, and extremely suitable to this king of 1 errors. 

Spectator, No, 310. 
N 2 



15Q ELEMENTS OF 

Aristotle observes, that the fable of an epic poem should abound 
in circumstances that are both credible and astonishing 1 : Milton's 
fable is a master-piece of this nature ; as the war in heaven, the 
condition of the fallen &ngels, the state of innocence, the temp- 
tation of the serpent, and the fall of man, though they are very as- 
tonishing- in themselves, are not only credible but actual points of 
f*itfc. Spectator, No. 315, 

Rule VIII. When five members of a sentence, 
each of which contains more than a single word, 
follow in a concluding series, the three first may 
be pronounced with the falling inflection, and the 
two last with tue rising and falling inflection, as 
in Rule II. 

EXAMPLES 

Though we seem grieved at the shortness of life in general, we, 
are wishing every period of it at an end. The minor longs to be 
at ige, then to be a man of business, then to make up an estate 
then to arrive at h6nours, then to retire. Sped. No 93. 

There is no blessing of life comparable to the enjoyment of a 
discreet and virtuous friend. It eases and unloads the mind, clears 
find improves the understanding, engenders thoughts and kn6w- 
iedge, animates virtue and good resolutions, and finds employment 
for the most vacant hours of life. Sped. N° 93. 

The devout man does not only believe but f^els there is a Deity; 
he has actual sensations of him ; his experience concurs with his 
reason, he sees him more and more in all his intercourses with 
him, and even in this life almost loses his faith in conviction. 

Ibid. No. 465. 

Rule IX. When six members of a sentence, 
each of which contains more than a single word, 
follow in a commencing series, the first five may 
be pronounced with the falling inflection, every 



ELOCUTION, 151 

member rising above the preceding one, and the 
two last members as in Rule II. 

EXAMPLES. 

That a man, to whom he was in a great measure, beholden For 
his crown, and even for his life; a man to whom, by every honouv 
and favour, he had endeavoured to express his gratitude ; whose 
brother, the earl of Derby, was his own father-in-law ; to whom 
he had even committed the trust of his person, by creating* him 
lord chamberlain ; that a man, enjoying his full confidence and 
afRction ; not actuated by any motive of discontent or apprehen- 
sion ; that this man should engage in a conspirancy against him he 
deemed absolutely false and incredible. 

Hume's Mist, of England, Vol. I. p. 363, 

I would fain ask one of those bigoted infklels, supposing all the 
great points of atheism as the casual or eternal formation of the 
w^rld, the materiality of a thinking substance, the mortality of the 
saul, the fortuitious organization of the bddy, the motions and gra- 
vitation of matter, with the like particulars, were laid together, 
and formed into a kind of creed, according to the opinions of the 
most celebrated atheist ; I say, supposing such a creed as this 
were formed, and imposed upon any one people in the world* 
whether it would not require an infinitely greater measure of faitli 
than any set of articles which they so violently oppose. 

Spectator, No 168 

Under this ride may be placed that grand and 
terrible adjuration of Macbeth: 

I conjure you by that which you profess 
(Howe'er you come to know it) answer me ; 
Though you untie the winds and let them fight 
Against the churches ; thoug the ye sty waves 
Confound and swollow navigation up ; 
Though bladed corn be lodg'd and trees blown ddwn; 
Though castles topple on their warder's haads; 
Though palaces and -pyramids do slope 
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure 
Of nature's germins tumble altogether, 
Ev'n till destruction Sicken, answer me 
To what I ask you. 



152 



ELEMENTS OF 



where, by placing the falling inflection, without 
dropping the voice, on each particular, and giv- 
ing this inflection a degree of emphasis, increasing 
from the first member to the sixth, we shall find 
the w T hole climax wonderfully enforced and 
diversified : this w^as the method approved and 
practised by the inimitable Mr. Garrick ; and 
though it is possible that a very good actor may 
vary in some particulars from this rule, and yet 
pronounce the whole agreeably, it may with con- 
fidence be asserted, that no actor can pronounce 
this passage to so much advantage as by adopting 
the inflections laid down in this rule. 

Rule X. When six members of a sentence, 
each of which consists of more than a single 
word, succeed each other in a concluding series, 
the four first may be pronounced with the falling 
inflection, each member ascending above the 
preceding and the two last, as in Rule II. 



EXAMPLES. 

For if we interpret the Spectator's words in their literal mean- 
ing, we must suppose that women of the first quality used to pass 
away whole mornings at a puppet-show ; that they attested their 
principles by pitches ; that an audience would sit out an evening 
to hear a dramatic performance, written in a language which they 
did not understand ,• that chairs and flower-pots were introduced 
as actors on the British stage ; that a promiscuous assembly of 
men and women were allowed to meet at midnight in masks with- 
in the verge of the C6urt, with many improbilicies of the like na- 
ture. Spectator, No. 102. 

Rule XL When seven or more members of a 
sentence, each of which consists of more than a 
single word, succeed each other in a commencing 



ELOCUTION, 



154 



> series, all but the last member may be prouounc- 
ed with the falling- inflection, each succeeding 
member rising above that which precedes it, and 
the two last members as in Rule I. 



EXAMPLE . 

Nature has laid out all her art in beautifying 1 the f^ce ; she has 
touched it with vermilion; planted in it a double row of ivory ; 
made it the seat of smiles and blushes ; lighted it up and enlivened 
it with the brightness of the eyes ; hung it on each side with curi- 
ous organs of sense; given it airs and graces that cannot be des- 
cribed; and surrounded it with such'a flowing shade of h&ir, as 
sets all its beauties in the most agreeable light. 

Spectator,^. 98, 

Series of Serieses. 
Preliminary Observation, 

When the members of a series, either from 
their similitude or contrariety to each other, fall 
into pairs or triplets; these pairs or triplets, con- 
sidered as whole members, pronounced according 
to the rules respecting those members of a series 
that consist of more than a single word; but the 
parts of which these members are composed, if 
consisting of single words, are pronounced accor- 
ding to those rules which relate to those members 
that consist of single words, as far as their subor- 
dination to the whole series of members will per- 
mit. Hence arises, 

Kule I. When several members of a sentence 



154 ELEMENTS OF 









consisting of distinct portion of similar or oppo- 
site words in a series, follow in succession, they 
must be pronounced singly, according to the num- 
ber of members in each portion, and together, ac- 
cording to the number of portions in the whole 
sentence, that the whole may form one related 
compound series. 



EXAMPLES. 

The soul consists of many faculties as the understanding and the 
wUl, wit ii all the senses both inward and dutward; or, to speak 
more philosophically, the soul can exert herself in many different 
ways of action: she can understand, will imagine, s^eahdhdar; 
ldve and disc6nrse; and apply herself to many other like exercises 
of different kinds and natures. Spectator, No. 600. 



The first portion of this series of serieses, she 
can understand, will, imagine, as it contains one 
complete portion, may be considered as a con- 
cluding series ; and as it forms but one portion 
of a great series, it may be considered as a com- 
mencing one, and must be pronounced in sub- 
serviency to it ; that is, the first and second 
word must have the rising, and the last the falling 
inflection, but without dropping the voice. The 
next portion must be pronounced in a similar 
manner ; that is, the first word with the rising, 
and the last with the falling inflection, with the 
voice a little higher and more forcible on the word 
here than on the word imagine : the next portion, 
being the last but one, alters its inflections ; the 
first word having the falling, and the last the ris- 



ELOCUTION. 155 

inflection, agreeably to the rule laid down in 
the preliminary observation to the Compound 
Series. 

On the other hand, those evil spirits, who, by long" custom, 
have contracted in the body habits of lust and sensuality; m*[ice 
and revenge; an aversion to every thing- that is good, j u st, and 
laudable, are naturally seasoned, and prepared for pain and misery. 

Spectator, No. 447. 

Asthisisacommencingseries, of serieses the last 
member but one of the second series may be pro- 
nounced with the falling inflection at revenge: 
\ and as the last member has a series of three 
\ single words, they come under Rule III. of the 
Simple Commencing Series. 
ft 

The condition, sp^ch, and behaviour of the dying- pirents ; 
with the &g-e, innocence, and distress of the children, are set forth 
in such tender circumstances, that it is impossible for a reader 
of common humanity not to be affected with them. 

Spectator, No. 85. 

These two serieses, containing three members 
each, and not concluding the sentence, may be 
considered as a concluding and commencing 
series of three single members each, and pro- 
nounced as in Rule III. of the Simple Series. 

Uis (Satan's) pride, envy, revenge ; dbstinacy, despair, and 
impenitence, are all of them very artfully interwoven. 

Spectator, No. 50X 

Here are two distinct serieses of three mem- 
bers, each of which must be pronounced ex- 
actly like the last example, that is like the 



156 



ELEMENTS OF 



concluding and commencing series of thn 
Rule III. of the Simple Series. 



' 



Thefman who lives under an habitual sense of the divine presence, 
keeps up a perpetual cheerfulness of temper, and enjoys every 
moment the satisfaction of thinking 1 himself in company with his 
dearest and best of friends. He no sooner steps out of the world, 
but his heart burns with devAtion, swells with hdpe, and triumphs 
in the consciousness of that presence which every where surr6unc!s 
him; or on the contrary pours out its fears, its sorrows, its ap- 
prehensions, to the great Supporter of its existence. 

Spect. No. 93. 

This sentence may be considered as a sen- 
tence consisting of two commencing serieses, 
both of which may be pronounced according 
to Rule III. Compound Series. 

; 
How many instances have we (in the fair sex) of chastity, fideli- 
ty, devdtion? How many ladies distinguish themselves by the 
education of their children, care of their families, and love of their 
husbands: which are the great achievements of woman kind ; as 
the making- of War, the carrying on of traffic, administration 
of justice, are those by which men grow famous and get them- 
selves a n^me ? Spectator, No. 73. 



The several series is this passage may be con- 
sidered as forming one complete observation : 
the first is a concluding series of three, and may 
be pronounced as the concluding series, Rule 
IV. in every member but the last, which being 
the first step of the series of serieses, instead of 
the concluding inflection, adopts the falling in- 
flection only. The next series may be pronoun- 
ced in the same manner as the former, with this 
difference only, the last member, being the se- 
cond step of the series of serieses, ought to have 



ELOCUTION. 1£7 

the falling inflection a little higher on husbands 
than it was on devotion in the first series. The 
last series has its three members pronounced 
exactly like the commencing series, Rule HI. ; 
and thus every series is pronounced, both ac- 
cording to its own particular analogy, and that 
of the three taken together. 

38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life; nor an- 
gels, nor principalities, nor powers ; nor things present, nor things 
to come ; 

39. Nor height, nor d^plh ; nor any other creature, shall be able 
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
jA-d. Romans, ch. viii. ver. 3&, 39. 

Upon the first view of this passage, we find it 
naturally fails into certain distinct portions of simi- 
lar or opposite words. These portions seem to 
be five in number ; the first containing two mem- 
bers, death, life ; the second containing three, 
angels, principalities, powers; the third two, 
things present, things to come ; the fourth two*, 
height, depth ; the fifth one, any other creature : 
these members, if pronounced at random, and 
without relation to that order in which they are 
placed by the sacred writer, lose half their beauty 
and eifect ; but if each member is pronounced 
with an inflection of voice that corresponds to 
its situation in the sentence, the whole series be- 
comes the most striking and beautiful climax im- 
aginable. 

In order, then, to pronounce this passage pro- 
perly, it is presumed that there ought to be a 



158 



ELEMENTS OF 



gradation of force from the first portion to the 
last ; and that this force may have the greater 
Variety, each portion ought to be accompanied 
with a gradation of voice from low to high ; that 
each portion also should continue distinct, even 
portion but the last should be pronounced as a 
simple concluding series, with the failing inflec- 
tion on the last member, enforcing, and not drop- 
ping the voice ; that last member, according to 
the general rule, must have the rising inflection ; 
and in this manner of pronouncing it, the whole 
sentence has its greatest possible force, beauty, 
and variety. 

From the examples which have been adduced, 
we have seen in how many instances the force, 
variety and harmony of a sentence have been im- 
proved by a proper use of the failing inflection. 
The series in particular is indebted to this inflec- 
tion for its greatest force and beauty. But it is 
necessary to observe, that this inflection is not 
equally adapted to the pronunciation of every se- 
sies : where force, precision, or distinction is ne- 
cessary, this inflection very happily expresses the 
sense of the sentence, and forms an agreeable cli- 
max of sound to the ear ; but where the sense of 
the sentence does not require this force, preci- 
sion, or distinction, (which is but seldom the 
case), where the sentence commences with a con- 
ditional or suppositive conjunction, or where the 
language is plaintive and poetical, the falling in- 
flection seems less suitable than the rising : this 
will be better perceived by a few examples. 



ELOCUTION. i5-9 



EXAMPLE. 

Seeing" then that the soul has many different ficulties, or in other 
words many different ways of Acting- ; that it can be intensely 
pleased or made happy by a ll these different faculties or ways of 
acting; that it may be endowed with several latent faculties, which 
it is not at present in a condition to exsrt ; that we cannot believe 
the soul is endowed with any faculty which is of no vise to it ; that 
whenever any one of these faculties is transcendently pleased, the 
soul is in a state of happiness ; and in the last place, considering 
that the happiness of another world, is to be the happiness of the 
whole m&n ; who can question but that there is an infinite variety 
in those pleasures we are speaking of; and that this fullness of 
joy will be made up of -all those pleasures, which the nature of the 
soul is capable of receiving ? Spectator, No. 600. 

As the fourth member of this sentence, from 
Its very nature, requires the rising inflection, and 
as the whole series is constructed on the suppo- 
sitive conjunction seeing ; every particular mem- 
ber of it seems necessarily to reqnire the rising 
inflection : for it may be observed as a pretty 
general rule, that where a conditional or a suppo- 
sitive conjunction commences the series, if there 
is nothing particularly emphatical in it, the rising 
inflection on each particular of the series is pre- 
ferable to the falling, especially if the language be 
plaintive and tender. 

EXAMPLE. 

W hen the gay and smiling aspect of things has begun to leave 
the passages to a man's heart thus thoughtlessly unguarded; when 
kind and caressing- looks of every object without, that can flatter 
his senses, has conspired with the enemy within, to betray him 
and put him off his defence ; when music likewise hath lent her 
aid, and tried her power upon the passions ; when the voice of sing, 
ing men, and the voice of singing women, with the sound of the 
viol and the lute, have broke in upon his soul, and in some tender 
notes have touched the secret springs of rapture, — that moment 



160 



ELEMENTS OF 



let us dissect and look into his h^art ;— see bow vain, Low weak, 
bow 4mpty a thing- it is ! 

Sterne's Sermon on the House of JLounmig, i?t. 

In this example, the plaintive tone which the 
whole sentence requires, gives it an air of poe- 
try, and makes the falling inflection too harsh te 
terminate the several particulars; for it may be ob- 
served in passing, that a series of particulars are as 
seldom to be pronounced with the falling inflection 
in poetry, as they are for the most part to so be pro- 
nounced in prose. The reason of this, perhaps, may 
be, that, as poetry assumes so often the ornamen- 
tal and the plaintive, where a distinct and emphatic 
enumeration is not so much the object as a noble 
or a tender one ; that expression which gives the 
idea of force and familiarity is not so suitable to 
poetry as to prose: as a confirmation of this we 
may observe, that when poetry becomes either 
forceful or familiar, the falling inflection is then 
properly adopted in the pronunciation of the -se- 
ries. ■ 

EXAMPLE. 

Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains, 
And might ly hearts are held in slender chains 
With hairy springes we the birds betray, 
Slight lines of hair surprise the finny prey ; 
Fair tresses iron's imperial race ensnare, 
And beauty draws us with a single hair. 

Mape of the Locke ; Canto n. *ver. 23. 

Here the emphasis on each particular requires 
the first and second to be pronounced with the 
falling inflection, as in Rule VI. of the Compound 
Series. 



ELOCUTION. 



161 



But rhyming poetry so seldom admits of this 
inflection in the series, that the general rule is for 
a contrary pronunciation. 

EXAMPLE. 

So when the faithful pencil has design'd 
Some bright idea of the master's mtnd, 
Where a new world leaps out at his command. 
And ready nature wait* upon his hand ; 
When the ripe colours soften and unite, 
And sweetly melt into just shade and light ; 
When mellowing years their full perfection give, 
And each bold figure just begins to live; 
The treacherous colours the fair art betray, 
And all the bright creation fades awdy. 

Pope's Essay on Crit. ver. 404, 

In this example we find every particular, ex- 
cept the last but one (where the sentence begins 
to grow emphatical,) adopt the rising inflection, 
as more agreeable to the pathetic tenor of the pas- 
sage than the falling: and it may be obser- 
ved, that there are few passages of this sort in 
rhyming poetry, of the pathetic or ornamental 
kind, which do not necessarily require the same 
inflection. 

Thus no objection to the utility of these long 
laboured rules has been dissembled. In sub- 
jects of this nature something must always be 
left to the taste and judgment of the reader ; but 
the author flatters himself, if any thing like a 
general rule is discovered in a point supposed 
to be without all rule, that something at least is 
added to the common stock of knowledge, 
which may in practice be attended with advan- 
tage. 

o 2 



Is62 ELEMENTS OF 

What the bishop of London says of improve* 
ments in grammar, may, with the greatest propri- 
ety, be applied to this part of elocution. " A 
" system of this kind," says this learned and in- 
genious writer, " arising from the collection and 
" arrangement of a multitude of minute particu- 
" lars, which often elude the most careful search, 
" and sometimes escape observation when they 
" are most obvious, must always stand in need of 
** improvement : it is, indeed, the necessary con- 
" dition of every work of human art or science, 
" small as well as great, to advance towards per- 
" fection by slow degrees : by an approximation, 
" which, though it may still carry it forward, yet 
" will certainly never bring it to the point to 
" which it tends." 

Dr. Lcwth's Preface to his Grammar, 

fhe Final Pause or Period. 

Wheiva sentence is so far perfectly finished, 
as not to be connected in construction with the 
following sentence, it is marked with a period. 
This point is in general so well understood, that few 
grammarians have thought it necessary to give an 
express example of it .; though there are none 
who have inquired into punctuation who do not 
know, that in loose sentences the period is fre- 
quently confounded with the colon. But though 
the tone, with which we conclude a sentence, is 
generally well understood, we cannot be too care- 



ELOCUTION. 



1*63 



ful in pronunciation to distinguish it as much as 
possible from that member of a sentence, which 
contains perfect sense, and is not necessarily con- 
nected with what follows. Such a member, 
which may not be improperly called a scntentiola^ 
or little sentence, requires the falling inflection, 
but in a higher tone than the preceding words ; as 
if we had only finished a part of what we had to 
say, while the period requires the falling inflection 
in a lower tone, as if we had nothing more to add. 
But this final tone does not only lower the last 
word ; it has the same influence on those which 
more immediately precede the last ; so that the 
cadence is prepared by a gradual fall upon the 
concluding words ; every word in the latter part 
of a sentence sliding gently lower till the voice 
drops upon the last. See this more clearly explain- 
ed, Plates I. and II. This will more evidently ap- 
pear upon repeating the following sentence : 



EXAMPLE. 



As the word taste arises very often in conversation, I shall en- 
deavour to give some account of it, and to lay down rules how we 
may know whether we are possessed of it, and how we may ac- 
quire that fine taste in writing- which is so much talked of among 
the polite wdrld. Spectator, No. 4Q7. 

t , d We find perfect sense formed at the words ac- 
count of it, andfiossessedofit; but as they do not con- 
clude the sentence, these words, if they adopt the 
falling ineflction, must be pronounced in a higher 
tone than the rest ; while in the last member, not 
only the word worlds pronounced lower than the 



164, 



ELEMENTS OF 



rest, but the whole member falls gradually into 
the cadence, which is so much talked of among the 
polite xvorld. And here it will be absolutely ne- 
cessary to observe, that though the period gener- 
ally requires the falling inflection, every period 
does not necessarily adopt this inflection in the 
same tone of voice ; if sentences are intimately 
connected in sense, though the grammatical 
structure of each may be independent on the oth- 
er, they may not improperly be considered as so 
many small sentences making one large one, and 
thus requiring a pronunciation correspondent to 
their logical dependence on each other : hence it 
may be laid down as a general rule ; that a series 
of periods in regular succession are to be pro- 
nounced as every other series : that is, if they fol- 
low each other regularly as parts of the same ob- 
servation, they are to be pronounced as parts, and 
not as wholes. 

EXAMPLES* 

Some men cannot discern between a noble and a mean action. 
Others are apt to attribute them to some false end or intention, 
and others purposely misrepresent or put a wrong interpretation 
on them. Sped. T$g. 255, 

Though the first part of this passage, is mark- 
ed with a period in all the editions of the Spec- 
tator I have seen, nothing can be plainer than that 
it ought to be pronounced as the first member of 
the concluding series of three compound mem- 
bers. See article Compound Series, Hule IV. 



1€5 
KiLOCtmojy. 



Thus although the whole of life is allowed by every •netojbe 
*hort, the Several divisions of it appeals ^and ^--J « 
for lengthening our span ,n g eneral,bu would ^ ^ V°« M£ ^ 
parts of which it is composed. The u f u J^X s between the pre-- 
fisned to have all the time J **** 1 *!?^^^ be con. 
sent moment and next quarter-day. ^P^X^thinffS in the 
tented to loose three years an kis he couldb ^^r Juchf revolu- 
posture, which he fancies tuey wul &^ in, ator Jut of his esis- 
?ion of time. The lover would be glad to strike out«c 

r^tV^ou^, that it * *«^ 4 

Though here are no less than six periods in 
ihispasstge, and every one ^ them requires the 
falling inflection, yet every one of them ought to 
be pronounced Jin a somewhat different pitch of 
voice from the other; and for this purpose they 
may be considered as a concluding series of com- 
pound members ; the last period of whicn must 
conclude with a lower tone of voice than the pre- 
ceding, that there may be a gradation. bee 
Compound Series, Rule IV. . ... \ 

To these observations this may be subjoined, 
that the period, though generally, does not al- 
ways, require the falling inflection and a lower 
tone of voice. The first and most general excep- 
tion to the rule is the following : 

Exception \, 

When a sentence concludes an antithesis, the 
tost branch of which requires the strong empha- 



166 



ELEMENTS OF 



sis, and therefore demands the falling inflection ; 
the second branch requires the weak emphasis, 
and rising inflection: and, consequently, if this 
latter branch of the antithesis finish the sentence, 
it must finish without dropping the voice, that 
the inflections on the opposite parts of the anti- 
thesis may be different. See Emphasis. 

EXAMTLES. 

If we have no regard for our d wn character, we ought to hare 
seme regard for the character of others. 

If content cannot remdve the disquietudes of mankind, it will at 
least alleviate them. 

I would have your papers consist also of all things which may 
be necessary or useful to any part of society ; and the mach&nic 
aits should have their place as well as the liberal. 

Spectator, No. 428. 

In the first of these examples, a concession is 
made in the strongest terms in the supposition, 
for the sake of strengthening the assertion in the 
conclusion, and therefore neither can be pronoun- 
ced with due force but by giving own the falling 
and others the rising inflection. There is almost 
the same necessity for the same order of inflec- 
tions on remove and alleviate in the second exam- 
ple ; and the third would be more forcibly pro- 
nounced with the falling inflection on mechanic 
arts, and the rising on liberal, unless it were to 
conclude a paragraph or branch of a subject ; for 
in this case, if the sense does necessarily require 
the rising inflection, the ear will always expect 
the falling. See Penultimate Member. 



1 



ELOCUTION. 167 

To this Exception may be added another, 
which forms a rule of very great extent ; and 
that is, where the last member of a sentence is a 
negative, in opposition to some affirmative, either 
expressed or understood ; but this rule is so al- 
lied to emphasis, that the reader is referred to 
that article, where he will find it fully explained 
and illustrated. 



Interrogation' 

" But besides the points which mark the pan- 
*' ses, in discourse," says Dr. Lowth, " there are 
" others which denote a different modulation of 
" the voice in correspondence with the sense. 
** The interrogation and exclamation points," 
says the learned bishop, " are sufficiently expiain- 
" ed by their names; they are indeterminate as 
" to their quantity or time, and may be equiva- 
u lent in that respect to a semicolon, a colon, or 
" a period, as the sense requires ; they mark an 
" elevation of voice." This is, perhaps, as just 
an account of these points as could have been gi- 
ven in so few words ; but, like every general rule 
that has been hitherto given, leaves us in a thou- 
sand difficulties when we would reduce it to prac- 
tice; Whatever may be the variety of time we 
annex to the interrogation, certain it is, that there 
is no circumstance in reading or speaking which 
admits of greater variety of tone ; a question may 
imply so many different degrees of doubt, and is 



168 ELEMENTS OF 

liable to so many alterations from a diversity 61 
intention in the speaker, that I shall at present 
content myself with pointing out a few of the 
most obvious ; and endeavour to distinguish and 
reduce them to certain classes, that they may 
be applied to particular examples, and rendered 
useful. 

The most obvious distinction between inter- 
rogative and other sentences is, that as, in other 
sentences, the substantive or pronoun precedes 
the verb it governs, in an interrogative sentence, 
the verb, either auxiliary or principal, ought al- 
ways to precede either the substantive or pronoun. 
Thus, when I speak declaratively, I say, I am 
going to college; but when I speak interrogatively, 
I say, Are you going to college ? where we may 
observe, that in the declarative and interrogative 
sentences, the pronoun and the verb hold different 
places. 

This inversion of the common order of the 
words in composition, is accompanied by a simi- 
lar inversion of the inflection of voice in pronunci- 
ation ; for as the common order of inflections in a 
declarative sentence, is that of placing the rising 
inflection towards the middle, and the falling at 
the end, as in the first example ; the interroga- 
tion inverts this order, and uses the falling inflec- 
tion of voice in the middle of the sentence, and 
the rising on the last word, as in the last exam- 
ple : this peculiarity, however, does not extend 
to every species of interrogation ; and interroga- r 
tive sentences arc, in reality, so irequenth to be 
pronounced like declarative sentences, it is {Scarce- 



ELOCUTION. ^9 

ly any wonder that those who do not attend to the 
delicacies of reading should never use the rising 
inflection of the voice on any question : but such 
force, spirit, and variety, is thrown into a dis- 
course by such an alteration of the voice as the 
question affords, that those who have the least de- 
sire to read well, ought never to neglect so fa- 
vourable an opportunity : a question terminating 
with the rising inflection of voice at once breaks 
the chain of discourse, grown heavy by its length, 
rouses the auditor/rom the languor of attending to 
a continued series of argument, and excites fresh 
attention by the shortness, briskness and novelty 
of the address : and if the greatest masters of 
composition have thought it necessary to throw 
in questions to enliven and enforce their har- 
rangues, those who have the least taste for the de- 
livery of them, find it as necessary to attend to 
the peculiarity of voice this figure requires when 
they read. 

This inflection of voice, however, which di- 
tinguishes the interrogation, seems entirely con- 
fined to those questions which a ;e formed with- 
out the interrogative pronouns or adverbs. When 
a question commences with one of these, it has 
invariably the same inflection as the declarative 
sentence, unless we have either not heard, or 
mistaken an answer just given us : for in that 
case, the emphasis is placed on the interrogative 
word ; and the voice elevated by the rising in- 
flection on the end of the sentence. Thus, if we 
say simply, When do you go to college P the word 

p 



170 



ELEMENTS OF 



college has the falling inflection, and the voice is 
no more elevated than if, being acquainted with 
the time, we should say, At that time I find you 
go to college : but if we have mistaken the answer 
that has been given us concerning the time, we 
say, When do you go to college ? we lay a consid- 
erable stresb upon the word when, and suspend 
the voice with the rising inflection to the end of 
the sentence. 

Again ; if we ask a question without previous 
conversation, or reference to any thing that has 
passed, if we do not use the interrogative words, 
we infallibly use the rising inflection, and elevate 
the voice on the end of the question ; thus we 
meet, and say — Are you going to college ? if we 
have the least eagerness for information, the voice 
is elevated and suspended with the rising inflec- 
t ion on the last word : but if the person we speak 
to, either does not hear, or else mistakes what we 
say, so as to make it necessary to repeat the ques- 
tion, we then adopt the falling inflection on the 
last word, and, giving it some degree of empha- 
sis, say, Are you going to college ? with the same 
inflection of voice, and in nearly the same tone, 
with which we should say simply, You are now 
going to college ; with this difference only, that in 
the latter case the voice falls into a lower tone, 
and in the former seems to rest in the tone of the 
sentence, somewhat louder, perhaps, but with ex- 
actly tiie same falling inflection as the latter, and 
entirely different from that upward turn of voice 
which distinguishes the first question. 



ELOCUTION. 



171 



Thus we find the immediate repetition of the 
same question requires a different inflection of 
voice according to its form. When we ask a 
question commencing with an interrogative word, 
as — When do you go to college ? When, from a 
mistake of the answer about the time, we repeat 
this question, we use the rising inflection of voice, 
and elevate it to the end, as — Whm do you go to 
college ? On the contrary, when we first Ubk a 
question withoutthe interrogative word, we use 
the rising inflection, and raise the voice on the 

last word, as ire you going to college ? and 

when we repeat the question, we use the failing 
inflection of voice on the last word ; and though 
we may pronounce the last word louder than the 
rest, we do not use the rising inflection as in the 
former case, but the falling, as — I say, are you 
going to college ? 

But such is the variety of this species of sen- 
tence, that a question may be asked without ei- 
ther the interrogative words, or an inversion of 
the arrangement, or the rising inflection of voice 
on the last word : for instead of saying, Do you 
intend to read that book ? with the rising inflec- 
tion on the word book, we may, with the same ex- 
pectation of an answer, use the same inflection on 
the same word, and say, You intend to read that 
book ? — Both sentences will be equally interroga- 
tory, though the last seems distinguished from 
the first, by implying less doubt of what we ask ; 
for when we say, You intend to read that book? 
with the rising inflection on the word book, we 



HS 



ELEMENTS OF 



have not so much doubt about the reading of it 
as when we say, Do you intend to read that book ? 
with the same inflection on the same word : and 
accordingly we find the voice more elevated at the 
end of the question where there is more doubt 
implied ; and where the doubt is small, the voice 
is less elevated at the end ; though, in both cases, 
the same kind of inflection is inviolably preser- 
ved ; for the question- — You intend to read that 
hook? with the rising inflection on the word book, 
is equivalent to the interrogative affirmation ; / 
suppose you intend to read that book ? both of 
which we find naturally terminate in a suspension 
©f voice, as if an ellipsis had been made, and part 
of the question omitted ; for these questions end 
in exactly the same inflection of voice which the 
same words would have in the question at length 
— You intend to read that book, do you not? — 
that is, in the suspension of voice called the rising 
inflection, similar to that usually marked by the 
comma. Not but this very phrase, You intend to 
read that book, pronounced with the falling in- 
flection on the last word like a declarative sen- 
tence, might have the import of a question, if at- 
tended with such circumstances as implied a 
doubt in the speaker, and required an answer 
from the hearer : though this mode of speaking 
would, perhaps, imply the last degree of doubt 
possible, yet as some degree of doubt might be 
implied, it must necessarily be classed with the 
interrogation. 



ELOCUTION. 



17: 



Having premised these observations, it may be 
necessary to take notice, that with respect to pro- 
nunciation, all questions may be divided into two 
classes ; namely, into such as are formed by the 
interrogative pronouns or adverbs, and into such 
as are formed only by an inversion of the com- 
mon arrangement of the words : the first with 
respect to inflection of voice, except in the cases- 
already mentioned, may be considered as purely 
declarative ; and like declarative sentences they 
require the falling inflection at the end : and the 
last, with some few exceptions, require the rising 
inflection of voice on the last word ; and it is this 
rising inflection at the end which distinguishes 
them from almost every other species of sentence. 
Of both these in their order. 



The Question with the Interrogative Words. 

Rule I. When an interrogative sentence 
commences with any of the interrogative pro- 
nouns or adverbs, with respect to inflection, ele- 
vation, or depression of voice, it is pronounced 
exactly like a declarative sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

How can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great and noble, 
who only believes that after a short turn on the stage of this 
world, he is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for 
a ver > Spectator, No. 21Q. 

p 2 



174 



ELEMENTS OF 



As an illustration of the rule, we need only al- 
ter two or three of the words to reduce it to a 
declarative sentence ; and we shall find the inflec- 
tion, elevation, and depression of voice on every 
part of it the same. 

He cannot exalt his" thoughts to any thing" great or noble, 
because he only believes that after a short turn on the stage of 
this world, he is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his conscious- 
ness for £ver. 

Here we perceive, that the two sentences, 
though one is an interrogation, and the other a 
declaration, end both with the same inflection of 
voice, and that the falling inflection ; but if we 
convert these words into an interrogation, by 
leaving out the interrogative word, we shall soon 
perceive the difference. 

Can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble, who 
only believes that after a short turn on the stage of this world 
he is to sink into oblivion and to lose his consciousness for 
<S-er ? 

In pronouncing this sentence with propriety, 
we fiiuUhe voice slide upwards on the last words, 
contrary to the inflection it takes in the two for- 
mer examples. — If grammarians, therefore, by 
the elevation of voice, which they attribute to the 
question, mean the rising inflection, their rule, 
with some few exceptions, is true only of ques- 
tions formed without the interrogative words ; 
for the others, though they may have a force and 
loudness on the last words, if they happen to be 
^mphatical, have no more @f that distinctive in- 



ELOCUTION. 



175 



flection which is peculiar to the former kind of 
interrogation, than if they were no questions at 
all. Let us take another example: — Why should 
not a female character be as ridiculous in a man, 
as a male character in one of the female sex ? 
Here the voice is no more elevated at the end 
than if I were to say, A female character is just 
as ridiculous in a man as a male character in one 
of the female sex : but if I say, Is not a female 
character as ridiculous in a man as a male charac- 
ter in one of the female sex ? — here not only 
the emphasis, but the rising inflection, is on the 
last words ; essentially different from the inflec- 
tion on these words in the first question, Why 
should not a female character be as ridiculous in a 
man, as a male character in one of the female 
sex ? We may presume, therefore, that it is 
the emphasis, with which these questions some- 
times terminate, that has led the generality of 
grammarians to conclude, that all questions ter- 
minate in an elevation of voice, and so to con- 
found that essential difference there is between a 
question formed with and without the interroga- 
tive words. 

Rule II. Interrogative sentences commencing 
with interrogative words, and consisting ox mem- 
bers in a series depending necessarily on each 
other for sense, are to be pronounced as a series 
of members, of the same kind in a declarative 
sentence. 



176 



ELEMENTS GF 



EXAMPLES. 



From whence can lie produce such cogent exhortations to the 
practice of every vhlue, such ardent excitements to piety and 
devAlion, and such assistance to attain them, as those which are 
to be met with throughout every page of these inimitable writ- 
ings ? Jeni/ns*s View of the Interna! Evid. p. 41. 

Where, amidst the dark clouds of pagan philosophy, can he 
shew us such a clear prospect of a future state, the immortality 
of the sdui, the resurrection of the dead, and the general j"dg- 
ment, as in St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians ? 

Ibid. p. 40. 

But to consider the Paradise Lost only as it regards our 
present subject ; what can be conceived greater than the bat- 
tle of angels, the majesty of Messiah, the stature and be- 
haviour of Satan and his peers ? what more beautiful than 
Pandaem6nium, Paradise, Heaven, A'ngels, A 'dam, and E\e ? 
what more strange than the creation of the v/6rld, the several 
metamorphoses of the fallen angels, and the surprising adven- 
tuies their leader meets with in his search after paradise ? 

Sped. No. 418. 

In these sentences we find exactly the same 
pauses and inflections of voice take place as in 
the different series of declarative sentences ; that 
is, the first example is to be pronounced as in 
Rule III. of the Compound Series, p. 145; 
the second as in Rule V. p. 146 ; and the last 
example, being a Series of Serieses, must be 
pronounced according to the rules laid down 
under that article, p. 151. 

But the question which in reading and speak- 
ing produces the greatest force and variety, is that 
which is formed without the interrogative words. 



ELOCUTION. 177 

The Question without the Interrogative Words. 

Rule I. When interrogative sentences are 
formed without the interrogative words, the last 
word must have the rising inflection. If there 
be an emphatical word in the last member, fol- 
lowed by several words depending on it, which 
conclude the sentence, both the emphatical word 
and the concluding words are to be pronounced 
with the rising inflection : thus the words ma- 
king one, and cause of the shipwreck, in the two 
following examples, have all the rising inflection. 

EXAMPLES. 

Would it not employ a beau prettily enough, if, instead of 
eternally playing" with his snuff-box, he spent some part of his 
time in making- one ? Spectator, No. 43. 

If the owner of a vessel had fitted it out with every thing" 
necessary, and provided to the utmost of his power ag-ainst the 
dang-ers of the sea, and that a storm should afterwards arise 
and break the masts, would any one in that case accuse him 
of being- the cause of the shipwreck ? 

Demosthenes on the Crotvn. JRoIlin. 

In these examples, we find, that, however 
variously the voice may employ itself on the rest 
of the sentence, the concluding words in the last 
member must necessarily be suspended with the 
rising inflection : the only exception to this rule 
is, when these interrogative sentences are con- 
nected by the disjunctive or; for in that case the 
sentence or sentences that succeed the conjunc- 
tion are pronounced as if they were formed by 
the interrogative words, or were merely declara- 
tive. 



178 ELEMENTS OP 

Rule II. When interrogative sentences con- 
nected by the disjunctive or, succeed each other, 
the fir it ends with the rising, and the rest with 
the falling inflection. 

EXAMPLES. 

Shall we in your person crfiwn the author of the public ca- 
lamities, or shall we destroy him ? 

±£schi7ics on the Crown. JRollin. 

Is the goodness, or wisdom of the divine Being-, more mani- 
fested in this his proceeding ? Sped. No. 519. 

But should these credulous infidels after all be in the right, 
and this pretended revelation be all a fable, from believing it 

wh » harm could ensue ? Would it render princes more tyranni- 
cal or subjects more ungovernable ? The rich more insolent, or 
th. poor more dis6rderly \ — Would it make worse parents, or 
child en; husbands or wives; masters or seivants; friends or 
neighbours; or would it npl make men more virtuous, and, conse- 
quently, more happy in every situation? 

Jenyns's View of the Internal Evidence, p. 107. 

In the tw T o former of these examples, we find 
j.he disjunctive or necessarily direct the voice in 
the last member of each to the falling inflection ; 
and in the third example, we have not only an 
instance of the diversity of voice on the several 
questions according to their form, but an illus- 
tration of the exception formed by the conjunc- 
tive or ; for in the former part of this passage, 
where it is used conjunctively, it does not occa- 
sion any more alteration of the voice on the word 
ensue than any other conjunctive word; but 
when used disjunctively, as in the last member 
of the question commencing at — or would it not 
make men more virtuous ', &c. — we find it very 



ELOCUTION. 179 

properly change the tone of voice from the in- 
terrogative to the declarative ; that is, from the 
rising to the failing inflection. 

Rule III. Interrogative sentences, without in- 
terrogative words, when consisting of a variety 
of members necessarily depending on each other 
for sense, admit of every tone, pause, and inflec- 
tion of voice, common to other sentences, pro- 
vided the last member, on which the whole ques- 
tion depends, has that peculiar elevation and in- 
flection of voice which distinguishes this species 
of interrogation. 

EXAMPLE. 

But can we believe a thinking being, that is in a perpetual pro- 
gress of imprdvements, and travelling- on from perfection to per- 
fection, after having just looked abroad into the works of its 
Creator, and made a few discoveries of his infinite goodness, wis- 
dom, and power, must perish at her first setting- dut, and in the 
very beginning- of her inquiries ? Sped. No. 111. 

In reading this passage we shall find, that plac- 
ing the failing inflection without dropping the 
voice on the words improvements and Creator, 
will not only prevent the monotony which is apt 
to arise from too long a suspension of the voice, 
but enforce the sense by enumerating, as it were, 
the several particulars of which the question 
consists. 

EXAMPLE. 

Do you think that Themistocles, unci the heroes who were kill- 
ed in ihe battles of Marathon and Plal&j , do you think the very 
tombs of your ancestors will not send forth groans, if you 



180 ELEMENTS OF 

crown a man, who, by his own confession, has been for ever 
conspiring- with barbarians to ruin Greece' 

JEschines on the Crown. Eollin. 

This passage will be rendered much more for- 
cible and harm onions, if, instead of suspending 
the voice throughout, we make use of the failing 
inflection, without dropping the voice on the 
words Plate a and confession. 

Rule IV. Interrogative sentences formed 
without, the interrogative words, and consisting 
of members in a series, which form perfect sense 
as they proceed, must have every member ter- 
minate with the inflection of voice peculiar to 
this species of interrogation. 



EXAMPLES. 

And with regard to the unhappy Lacedxmonians, what calami- 
ties have not befallen them for taking- only a small part of the 
spoils of the temple ? they who formerly assumed a suprrioritv 
ovei Greece, are they not now going to send ambassadors to 
A ie^u; tier's court, to beau the name of hostages in his u-&in, 
to cc>me a spectacle of misery, to bow the knee before the 
m6narch, submit themsehes and their country to his mercy, 
and receive such laws as a cdnqueror — a conqueror they attacked 
first, shall think fit to prescribe them ? 

JEschines on the Croivn. Rollin. 



It need scarcely be observed, that in order to 
prevent the monotony to which this passage is 
very iiable in reading, we ought to begin the first 
question as soft as possible, that the voice may 
proiiounee them ail with an increasing force to 
the last. 



ELOCUTION. 



181 



But did you, O— -(what title shall T give you !) did you betray 
the least shadow of displeasure against me, when I broke the 
chords of that harmony in your presence, and dispossessed the 
commonwealth of the advantages of that confederacy, which 
you magnify so much with the loudest strains of your theatrical 
v 6 ice ? did you ascend the r6strum ? did you denounce, or once 
explain those crimes, with which you are n6w pleased to charge 
me ? JJemosthenes on the Crown, llollin 



In this and the preceding sentence, we shall 
find the ear relieved, and the sense greatly en- 
forced, by placing the falling inflection with em- 
phasis in a high tone of voice on the words con- 
queror, first, and explain, according to Rule III. 

Would an infinitely wise Being make such glorious beings for 
so mean a purpose? can he delight in the production of such 
abortive intelligence, such sh6rt-lived reasonable beings ? would 
he give us talents that are not to be exerted, capacities that are 
not to be gritified ? Sped. No. 111. 

In the reading of every series here produced, 
it will be necessary to increase the force at the 
same time that we preserve the rising inflection 
on the last word or member of every one. 

One exception to this rule is, when a series of 
questions and answers follow each other : for in 
this case, though the first is elevated as in oilier 
interrogations, not commencing with interroga- 
tive words, the rest of the questions assume the 
declarative tone, and fall gradually into a period. 

! 

EXAMPLE. 

As for the particular occasion of these (charity) schools, there 
cannot any offer more worthy a generous mind. Would you do 
a handsome thing without return J — do it for an infant that is not 



182 



ELEMENTS OF 



sensible of the obligation ? Would you do it for tbe public gdod : 
— do it fov one who will be an honest artificer ? Would you do it 
for the sake of heaven ? — give it for one who shall be instructed 
in the worship of Him for whose sake you gave it ? 

Sped. No. 294, 

In this example there is evidently an opposi- 
tion in the interrogations which is equivalent to 
the disjunctive or ; and if the ellipsis were sup- 
plied, which this opposition suggests, the sen- 
tence would run thus : If you will not do a hand- 
some thing without return, would you do it for the 
public good? andifnotfor the public good, would 
you do it for the sake of heaven ? so that this 
exception may be said to come under Rule II. 
of this article. 

This rule may throw a light upon a passage in 
Shakspeare, very difficult to pronounce with va- 
riety, if we terminate every question with the ris- 
ing inflection, which, however, must necessarily 
be the case as the questions do not imply opposi- 
tion to, or exclusion of each other. The passage 
referred to is in Henry V. where that monarch, af- 
ter the discoveiy of the conrpiracy against him, 
thus expostulates with lord Scroope, who was 
concerned in it : 



Oh how hast thou with jealous/ infected 
The sweetness of affiance ! show men dutiful ? 
Why so didst thou : or seem they grave and learned 
Why so didst thou : come they of n*ble family : 
Why so didst thou : seem they religious ? 
Why so didst thou : or are they spare in diat; 
Free from gross passion or of mirth or knger ; 
Constant in spirit, not swerving with the bl6od 



ELOCUTION. 183 

Qariiiah'd and deck'd in modest camplement, 
Not working- with the eye without the ear, 
And but in pureed judgment trusting- neither ? 
Such and so finely boulted didst thdu seem. 

In pronouncing this passage, it should seem 
most eligible to use the rising inflection at the 
end of the several questions : but after the four 
first, the falling inflection seems very properly 
adopted on the word diet, as this is the first branch 
of the last series of questions ; and as this series 
continues for several lines, provided the voice be 
but inflected upwards on the last member at nei- 
ther •, the rest of the parts may be pronounced as 
is most suitable to the sense and harmony of the 
whole, according to Rule III. of this article. 

The necessity of attending to the distinction of 
inflection, when things are distinguished and op- 
posed to each other, will appear more clearly from 
the following passage : 

See Fulkj-anddi.es, the virtuous and the just; 
See god like Turenne prostrate on the dust •; 
See Sydney bleeds amid the martial strife ; 
Was this their virtue or contempt of life ? 



oj- cc 



Essay on Man, Epist. iv. v. 99. 



If, in reading this passage, the voice were to 
adopt the same inflection both on virtue and on 
contempt of life, and to end the last branch of the 
question as well as the first with the rising inflec- 
tion, the distinction, so strongly marked by the 
sense, would be utterly lost : whereas, if we end 
virtue with the rising, and life, with the faffing in, 
flection, the distinction evidently appears. "But 



18' 



ELEMENTS OF 



in the following passage from Shakspeare we have 
an instance of the necessity of a contrary mode of 
pronunciation, arising from a similitude of ob- 
jects connected by the disjunctive or : 

Is this the nature, 
Which passion could not sk&ke ? whose solid virtue, 
The shot of accident, or dart ofch^nxe 
Could neither raze nor pieice ? Othello. 

In this passage, the shot of accident and the 
dart of chance ; being only different words for the 
same thing, the word or conjoins them ; and to 
avoid any implication that they mean different 
things, the same inflection of voice ought to be 
on them both, that is, the rising inflection : but 
in the last member, where the opposition is evi- 
dent, both from the sense of the words, and the 
disjunctive nor, the falling inflection ought to be 
laid on raze, and the rising on pierce. 

For the same reason, in reading the following 
stanza of Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-yard, 
it should seem by much the most eligible method 
to suspend the voice with the rising inflection on 
the word death : 

Can stovy'd urn or animated bust, 
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath I 
Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust, 
Or flatt'ry sooth the dull cold ear of death ? 

As the sense of the word or, that is, whether 
it means conjunction or disjunction, is not always 
very obvious, it may not be useless to propose 



ELOCUTION. 



185 



the following rule : if we are in doubt whether or 
is conjunctive, or disjunctive, let us make use 
of this paraphrase — if it is not so, is it so? and if 
the sense will bear this paraphrase, the or is dis- 
junctive, and the subsequent question ought to 
have the falling inflection : if it will not bear it, 
the or is conjunctive, and the subsequent ques- 
tion ought to have the rising inflection. Thus 
if we paraphrase the stanza just quoted, we shall 
find the or conjunctive. If storied urn cannot 
call back the fleeting breath, can animated bust 
call it back? If honour's voice cannot provoke the 
silent dust, can flattery sooth the dull cold ear of 
death? 

If this paraphrase does not seem suitable to the 
general import of the sentence, it is because the 
objects are not put in opposition or contradistinc- 
tion to each other, and therefore that the or is 
conjunctive, and consequently, that the latter 
question requires the rising inflection as well as 
the former: but where the oris disjunctive, we 
find this paraphrase very suitable to the general 
import of the sentence. Thus in the following 
sentence. 



But should these credulous infidels after all be in the right, and 
this pretended revelation be all a fable ; from believing it what 
harm could ensue ? would it render princes more tyrannical, or 
subjects more ung6vernable, the rich more insolent or the poor 
more disorderly ? Would it make worse parents, or children, hus- 
bands, or wives ; masters or servants, friends, or neighbours ? or 
would it not make mem more virtuous, and, consequently, more 
happy in 6 very situation } . Jent/ns. 



9.2 



36 



ELEMENTS OF 



If we try the paraphrase upon the former parts 
of this sentence, we shall find it as repugnant to 
the sense as in the former example ; but if we 
apply it to the last member, we shall find it per- 
fectly accord with the meaning of the author. 
Thus, if we say — If it will not make worse pa- 
rents or children, husbands or wives, masters or 
servants, friends or neighbours; will it not make 
men more virtuous, and, consequently, more happy 
in every situation ? — from whence we may con- 
clude, that in the former part of this passage, the 
or is conjunctive, and suspends the voice at the 
end of ever)* member, and that the last or is dis- 
junctive, and requires the sentence to end with 
the falling inflection. 

In passages of this kind, therefore it seems 
quite necessary to attend to the distinction of in- 
flection here laid down ; and it may be farther 
observed, that the sense of a passage will always 
be more clearly understood by attending to this 
distinction, though there may not be always 
the same necessity for it. Thus in the following 
passage : 

One great use of prepositions in English, is to express those re- 
lations, which in some languages, are chiefly marked by cases, or 
the different endings of the noun. 

Here, though the word cases ends the penulti- 
mate member, yet, as the last member must have 
the falling inflection, the word cases must have 
the falling likewise ; for as here the word or is 
very different from the or preceded by either 9 ir\ 



ELOCUTION 



187 



this sentence, All languages express the relations 
of nouns either by prepositions or cases ; so it 
seems to intimate a different pronunciation ; and 
as in the last example the words prepositions and 
cases are opposed to each other, and for that rea- 
son require different inflections ; so, in the for- 
mer, a sameness of inflection on both the parts 
connected by or, seems better to preserve that 
sameness of idea which each of these parts con- 
veys. 

These examples serve to discover a great and 
natural source of that variety and precision which 
we so much admire in good readers and speakers. 
So many more instances might have been produ- 
ced, that these remarks might have justly formed 
a separate article ; but they seemed to belong 
more particularly to the interrogation, as here we 
view the force of contrast in a stronger light ; 
here we see, that though the interrogation, with- 
out the interrogative words, necessarily requires 
the rising inflection, yet when one part of this in- 
terrogation is distinctly opposed to, or contrasted 
with the other, these parts require opposite in- 
flections of voice ; and it may, without hesitation, 
be pronounced, that similar inflections of voice 
upon similar members or members in opposition, 
and opposite inflections of voice upon opposite 
words, or words opposed to, or contradistinguish- 
ed from each other in sense, are as congenial and 
essential to language as the marking of different 
things by different words. 



188 



ELEMENTS OF 



And here it were to be wished we could con- 
clude this article without a mention of those ex- 
ceptions, which are so apt to discourage inquir- 
ers into this subject, and induce them to conclude 
that there is nothing like rule or method in read- 
ing or speaking : but it ought to be remembered, 
that though there are numerous exceptions to al- 
most every rule in grammar, we do not from this 
conclude, that grammar has no rules at all ; in 
subjects where custom has so extensive an influ- 
ence, and where nature seems to vary expression 
for the sake of variety, if such rules can be drawn 
out as have a great majority of instances in their 
favour, we may certainly conclude that this, as 
well as every other department of language, is 
not without fixed and settled rules. 

That rule which directs us to suspend the 
voice with the rising inflection at the end of a 
question formed without the interrogative words, 
is, perhaps, as general, and as well founded, as 
any rule in language ; but the ear, which is dis- 
gusted at too long a suspension of voice, when 
the question is drawn out to a considerable length, 
often for the sake of a better sound, converts the 
interrogative into the declarative tone, , and con- 
cludes a question of this kind with the falling in- 
flection : 

Thus there are few readers who would not 
conclude the following question with the felling 
inflection. 



Do you think that Themistocies and the heroes who were killed 
;.n the battles of Marathon and Platxa, do you think the very tombs 



ELOCUTION. 



189 



of your ancestors would not send forth groans, if you crown a man, 
who, by his own confession, has been for ever conspiring with bar- 
barians to ruin Greece ? 



If this question were considered as entirely de- 
tached from the rest of the subject, there is no 
doubtbut the ear is ranch more gratified by this, 
than by an opposite pronunciation ; but when 
we reflect, that by this pronunciation, though the 
ear is gratified, it is at the expense of that peculiar 
poignancy which the rising inflection gives to 
this species of interrogation, we shall be less sat- 
isfied with the sacrifice we make to sound ; for 
though sound has its rights as well as sense, sense 
seems to have the first claim, especially in prose, 
and more particularly in this case, where the 
question loses all its force and vigour, unless pro- 
nounced with its specific inflection : besides, 
when we consider that in pronouncing a whole 
subject to the best advantage, perhaps it is not 
necessary that every part should be so pronoun- 
ced as to be by itself most agreeable to the ear, we 
shall perceive that it is possible some parts may 
be prononnced less harmoniously as parts, which 
may contribute greatly to the energy, variety, 
and even harmony of the whole ; as less agreea- 
ble passages, and even discords in music, are 
known to add greatly to the general beauty and 
effect of a whole composition. 

It must, however, be acknowledged, that some 
questions are so immoderately long, and, losing 
sight of the first object of interrogation, run into 
such a variety of after-thoughts, that, preserving 



190 ELEMENTS OF 

the idea of the question all through, and ending it 
with the rising inflection, would not only be very 
difficult and inharmonious, but in some measure 
prejudicial to the force and energy of the sense : 
when this is the case, changing the rising to the 
falling inflection is certainly proper ; and what 
fault there is in the want of correspondence be- 
tween sense and sound, must be placed to the ac- 
count of the composition : a reader, like a musi- 
cal peformer, perhaps, can cover a few blemishes 
in his author, by the elegance and delicacy of 
the tones he produces ; but all his art will not err- 
able him to make bad composition read as well as 
good ; or to make sense and sound accord in the 
reading, when they are at variance in the compo- 
sition. Thus in the following sentence : 

The Brigantines, even under a female leader, had force cough 
to burn the enemy's settlements, to storm their camps, and if suc- 
cess had not introduced negligence and inactivity, would have 
been able entirely to throw oil "the yoke : And shall not we, un- 
touched, unsubdued, and struggling, not for the acquisition, but 
the continuance of liberty, deciare, at the very first onset, what 
kind of men Caledonia has reserved for her defence ? 

In reading this sentence, we find it difficult to 
give it all its necessary force and harmony, and at 
the same time pronounce the emphatical word 
Caledonia, and the following words, with the ri- 
sing inflection, as the nature of the question seems 
to demand ; on the other hand, if we lay the 
emphasis with the falling inflection on the word 
Caledonia, the rising inflection on reserved, and 
the falling on defence, the cadence will be harmo- 



ELOCUTION. 191 

niously formed, and the sense will appear great- 
ly enforced ; bnt as this sense is not the precise 
and specific import of the interrogation, it must 
be left to the reader's judgment which mode of 
pronunciation he will adopt. 

And here it may be worth observing, that ques- 
tions without the interrogative words, demanding 
the rising inflection of voice, are always unfavour- 
able to harmony when they end a branch of a sub- 
ject commonly denoted by the paragraph ; And 
that if the general rule be violated, this position 
4 of the question seems the best apology for it ; as 
concluding a question of this kind with the rising 
inflection seems to leave a demand unanswered, 
and the branch of the subject imperfect : but if 
the question does not end the paragraph, but is 
either directly answered by the speaker, or fol- 
lowed by something so immediately connected 
with it as to remove the suspense of waiting for 
an answer; if this is the case, I say, let the train 
of questions be ever so numerous, it seems quite 
necessary to conclude with the rising inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

Consider, I beseech you, what was the part of a faithful citizen i 
of a prudent, an active, and an honest minister ? Was he not to 
secure Eubcea as our defence agaisst all attacks by Sea ? Was^ he 
not to make Beotia our barrier on the midland side ? The cities 
bordering on Peloponnesus our bulwark on that quarter ? Was he 
not to attend with due precaution to the importation of com, that 
this trade might be protected through all its progress up lo our . 
own harbours ? Was he not to cover those districts which we com- 
manded by seasonable detachments, as the Proconesus, the Ch'er- 
soncsus, and T^nedos ? To exert himself in the assembly for this 
purpose ? While with equal zeal he laboured to gam others to our 



192 



ELEMENTS OF 



interest and alliance, as Byzantium, Abydus, and Eubo&a ? Was 
he not to cut off the best, and most important resources of our 
enemies, and to supply those in which our country was defec- 
tive ? — And all this you gained by my counsels and my adminis- 
tration. Leland's Demosthenes. 

In pronouncing this passage, we find no meth- 
od so proper as that of annexing the rising inflec- 
tion to every single question ; and as they are not 
final, but are closed by a sentence with the falling 
inflection, the whole comes forcibly to the mind 
and agreeably to the ear, instead of that hiatus, 
both in sense and sound, with which the former 
sentence concludes when we finish it with the ri- 
sing inflection. 

It may be observed, likewise, that when ques- 
tions are succeeded by answers, it will be neces- 
sary to raise the voice in the rising inflection on 
the question, and after a considerable pause to 
pronounce the answer in a lower tone of voice, 
that they may be the better distinguished from 
each other. 

EXAMPLE. 

My departure is objected to me, which charge I cannot answer 
without commending myself. For what must I siy ? That I fled 
from a consckmsness of guilt ? But what is charged upon me as a 
crime, was so far from being a fault, that it is the most glorious 
action since the memoiy of man. That I feared being called to an 
account by the pebpie ? That was never talked of; and if it had 
been done, I should have come off with double hdiour. That I 
wanted the support of good and honest men ? That is false. That 
I was afraid of death ? That is a calumny. I must, therefore, say 
what 1 would not, unless compelled to it, that I withdrew to pre- 
serve the city. Cicero. 

in pronouncing this passage, we shall find 
it absolutely necessary, both for the vivacity 



ELOGUTTGN. 



193 



©f the questions, and to distinguish them from 
the answers, to pronounce the former in a 
higher, and the latter in a lower tone of voice, 
and to make a very long pause after each ques- 
tion. 

It seems necessary only to make one observa- 
tion more before wc close this article ; and that 
is, that as questions of this kind, which demand 
the rising inflection at the end, especially when 
they are drawn out to any length, are apt to car- 
ry the voice into a higher key than is either suita- 
ble or pleasant, too much care cannot be taken to 
keep the voice down, when we are pronouncing 
the former parts of a long question, and the com- 
mencing questions of a long succession of ques- 
tions ; for as the characteristic pronunciation of 
these questions is, to end with the rising inflec- 
tion, provided we do but terminate with this, the 
voice may creep on in a low and almost sameness 
of tone till the end ; and then if the voice is not 
agreeable in a high key, which is the case with the 
generality of voices, the last word of the whole 
may be pronounced with the rising inflection, in 
nearly the same low key in which the voice com* 
mences. 

Perhaps it may not be entirely useless to take 
notice of a very common mistake of printers, 
which is annexing the note of interrogation to such 
sentences as are not really interrogative, and which 
include a question only imperatively. Such are 
the following 



1 94 ELEMENTS OF 

Presumptuous man ! the reason would'st thou had, 
Why form'd so weak, so Utile, and so blind? 
First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess, 
Why form'd no weaker, blinder, and no less. 
Ask ofthy mother, earth, why oaks are made 
Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade ? 
Or ask of yonder argent fields above, 
Why Jove's satellites are less than Jove ? 

Popes Essay on Man, Ep. i. v. 35. 

Iii this passage we find the first couplet very 
properly marked with the note of interrogation, 
and the second couplet as properly left without it. 
But the third couplet, which is no more a ques- 
tion than the second, has a note of interrogation 
annexed to it ; and the fourth, which is perfectly 
similar to the third, is marked with a note of in- 
terrogation likewise. 



Exclamation. 

This note is appropriated by grammarians t© 
to indicate that some passion or emotion is con- 
tained in the words to which it is annexed ; and 
it may, therefore, be looked upon as essentially 
distinct from the rest of the points ; the office of 
which is commonly supposed to be that of fixing 
or determining the sense only. Whether a point 
that indicates passion or emotion without deter- 
mining what emotion or passion is meant,or if 
we had points expressive of every passion or em- 
otion, whether this would, in common usage, 
more assist or embarrass the elocution of the rea- 



ELOCUTION. 



195 



der, I shall not at present attempt to decide ; but 
when this point is applied to sentences which, 
from their form, might be supposed to be merely 
interrogative, and yet really imply wonder, sur- 
prise, or astonishment ; when this use, I say, is 
made of the note of exclamation, it must be con- 
fessed to be of no small importance in reading, 
and very justly to deserve a place in grammati- 
cal punctuation. 

Thus the sentence, How mysterious are the 
ways of Providence ! which naturally adopts the 
exclamation, may, by a speaker who denies these 
mysteries, become a question, by laying a stress 
on the word hozv, and subjoining the note of in- 
terrogation ; as How 7 mysterious are the zvays of 
Providence ? Upon hearing a piece of music, we 
may cry out with rapture, What harmony is that ! 
or we may use the w r ords to inquire What har- 
mony is that ? that is, what kind of harmon} r . 
The very different import, of these sentences, as 
they are differently pointed, sufficiently shew the 
utility of the note of exclamation. 

So lit le, however, is this distinction attended 
to, that we seldom see a sentence commencing 
with the interrogative words marked with any 
thing but the note of interrogation, however dis- 
tant the meaning of the sentence may be from 
doubt or inquiry. 

Thus Mr. Addison, speaking of the necessity 
of exercise, says — 



196 



ELEMENTS OT 



The earth must be laboured before it gives its increase ; ana 
whenitiR forced imoits several products* bow many bands must 
they pass through befcre they are fit for use ? Sped. No. 115. 

And this passage, in all the editions of the Spec- 
tator, I have seen, is marked with a note of inter- 
rogation. Another writer in the Spectator, 
speaking of the grandeur and beauty of heaven, 

says — 

How irreat must be the majesty of that place, where the whole 
art of creation has been employed, and where God has chosen to 
show himself in the most magnificent manner ? Ibid.No. 580. 

Instances of this mistake are innumerable; and 
yet it is clear as any thing in language, that these 
passages ought not to be marked with the inter- 
rogation, but with the exclamation point. — It may 
be urged, indeed, in extenuation of this fault, that 
the note of interrogation is not always very easy 
to be distinguished from the note of exclamation ; 
and w T hen this is the case, a mistake is not of any 
great importance to the reader ; for we may be 
sure that question which may be mistaken for an 
exclamation, whatever tone or passion it may de- 
mand, can never require any inflection of voice on 
the last word, but that which the question itself 
requires, which is the falling inflection.— It will, 
however, be necessary to take notice of an ex- 
ception to this rule, which is, when the exclama- 
tion comes immediately after a question, and, as 
it were, repeats it ; for, in this case, the repeated 
question, which is really an exclamation, assumes 
the rising inflection. 



ELOCUTION. 



197 



EXAMPLE. 

Will you for ever, Athenians, do nothing- but walk up and down 
the city, asking- one another, What news ? What u^ws ! Is there 
any thing- more new than to see a man of Macedonia become mas 
ter of the Athenians, and give laws to all Greece ? 

JJemosthene^s First Philippic. Mollin. 

In this passage we find the first question in- 
cluding the last, and being formed without the 
interrogative words, requires the rising inflection; 
and as the sentence of admiration, What news ! 
immediately followed, it exactly imitates the ob- 
ject it ironically admires. This inflection of the 
note of admiration is not confined to the repeti- 
tion of this inflection in the foregoing question ; 
for if a question is asked with the interrogative 
words, and, consequently, with the falling inflec- 
tion, if we immediately echo the question, and 
turn it into an admiration, the voice necessarily 
adopts the rising inflection before described. 
Thus when Pope inquires into the place where 
happiness resides, he says— • 

Plant of celestial seed, if dropp'd below, 
Say in what mortal soil thou deign'st to -grow : 
Fair op'ning to some courts propitious shine, 
Or deep with diamonds in the flaming- mine ? 
Twin'd with the wreaths Parnassian laurels yield, 
Or reap'd in iron harvests of the field ? 
Where gr^ws ? where grows it ndt ? if vain our toil, 
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil. 

Pope's Essay on J\fan, b. iv. 

Here the phrase, wher&grows, assumes the ri- 
sing inflection, and ought to be marked with the 
note of exclamation. 



i98 



ELEMENTS Of 



It may not be entirely useless to take notice of 
a common error of grammarians; which is, that 
both this point and the interrogation require an 
elevation of voice. The inflection of voice pro- 
per to one species of question, which, it is proba- 
ble, grammarians may have mistaken for an ele- 
vation of voice, it is presumed has been fully ex- 
plained under that article i By the elevation of 
voice they attribute to this point, it is not unlike- 
ly that they mean the pathos or energy with 
which we usually express passion or emotion ; 
but which is, by no means, inseparably connected 
with elevation of voice ; were we even to sup- 
pose, that all passion or emotion necessarily as- 
sumes a louder tone, it must still be acknowledg- 
ed this is very different from a higher tone of 
voice, and therefore that the common rule is very 
fallacious and inaccurate. 

The truth is, the expression of passion or emo- 
tion consists in giving a distinct and specific 
quality to the sounds we use, rather than in in- 
creasing or diminishing their quantity, or in giv- 
ing their quantity any local direction upwards or 
downwards : Understanding the import of a sen- 
tence, and expressing that sentence with passion 
or emotion, are things as distinct as the head and 
the heart : This point, therefore, though useful 
to distinguish interrogation from emotion, is as 
different from the rest of the points as Grammar 
is from Rhetoric ; and whatever may be the tone 
of voice proper to the note of exclamation, it is 
certain the inflections it requires are exactly the 



ELOCUTION. 



1§9 



same as the rest of the points ; that is, if the ex-, 
elamation point is placed after a member that 
would have the rising inflection in another sen- 
tence, it ought to have the rising in this; if af- 
ter a member that would have the falling inflec 
tion, the exclamation ought to have the falling 
inflection likewise j or if exclamation is mingled 
with a question, it requires the same inflection 
the question would require, unless, as we have 
formerly observed, the question with the interro- 
gative words is an echo of another question of 
the same kind, which, in this case, always re- 
quires the rising inflection : And this exception., 
it may be observed, is perfectly agreeable to the 
general rule ; for a repetition of a question of 
this kind alters its form, and changes it in effect 
into a question without the interrogative word ; 
as the member, where grows, in the last example, 
is equivalent to the sentence, Do you ask where it 
grows ; an ellipsis in the words, not altering in 
the least the import of the sentence. 

An instance, that the exclamation may be 
mixed with interrogations of both kinds, may 
be seen in the following speech of Gracchus, 
quoted by Cicero, and inserted in the Spectator, 
N°. 541. 



Whither shall I turn ? Wretch that I am ! to what place shall I 
betake myself? Shall I go to the Capitol ? alas ! it is overflowed 
with my brother's blood ! or shall I retire to my h^use ? yet there 
I behold my mother plunged in misery^ weeping and despairing ? 



200 ELEMENTS OF 

Every distinct portion of this passage may be 
truly said to h r -* an exclamation ; and yet we find, 
in reading it, though it can scarcely be pronoun- 
ced with too much emotion, the inflections of 
voice are the same as if pronounced without any 
emotion at all : that is, the portion, Whither 
shall I turn, terminates like a question with the 
interrogative word, with the falling inflection. 
The member, Wretch that lam, like a member 
forming incomplete sense, with the rising inflec- 
tion ; the question, without the interrogation 
word, Shall I go to the Capitol, with the rising 
inflection ; alas ! it is overflowed with my brothers 
bloody with the falling : The question commencing 
with the disjunctive or, or sliall I retire to my 
house, .with the failing inflection, but in a lower 
tone of voice. 

Thus we see how vague and indefinite are the 
general rules for reading this point, for want of dis- 
tinguishing high and low tones of voice from those 
upward and downward slides, which may be in 
any note of the voice, and which, from their radi- 
cal difference, form the most marking differences 
in pronunciation. 



Parenthesis. 

The parenthesis is defined by our excellent 
grammarian, Dr. Lowth, to be a member of a 



ElOCUTIOff, 201 

sentence inserted in the body of a sentence, which 
member is neither necessary to the sense* nor at 
all affects the construction. He observes, also* 
that in reading or speaking, it ought to have a 
moderate depression of the voice, and a pause 
greater than a comma. This is, perhaps, as just 
a definition of the parenthesis as Could be given in 
so few words, and may serve to regulate our opi- 
nion of it when the marks of it in printing are 
either omittejd or used improperly ; but several 
other particulars respecting this grammatical note 
may be remarked, which will tend greatly to ac- 
quaint us with the true nature of it, and shew us 
how it may be pronounced to advantage. 

And first it may be observed, that the paren- 
thesis seems to have been much under-rated by 
the generality of writers on composition, who 
consider it rather as a blemish than an advantage 
to style, and have almost entirely prohibited the 
use of it. This, however, cannot be done with- 
out arraigning the taste of the best writers, both 
ancient and modern, who frequently make use of 
this figure of grammar, and often with great ad- 
vantage : for though, when used injudiciously, it 
interrupts the course of the thought, and obscures 
the meaning; yet sometimes it so happily conveys 
a sentiment or stroke of humour, as to entitle it 
to no small merit among the grammatical figures, 
and to rank it even with those of oratory and elo- 
quence. What, for example, can add greater 
force to a pathetic sentiment than a thought rising 
up from the fulness of the heart, as it were in the 
middle of another sentence ? What can add grea* 



202 



ELEMENTS OF 



ter poignancy to a sally of wit, than conceiving it 
as springing naturally from the Luxnriancy of the 
subject without the least effort or premeditation of 
the writer? What can give such importance to a 
transient thought, as producing it in the negli- 
gence of an intervening member; and how much 
is composition familiarized, and rendered natural 
and easy, by the judicious introduction of these 
transient unpremeditated thoughts! This manner 
of conveying a thought makes us esteem it the 
more in proportion as the author seems to esteem 
it less ; and if, to this advantage of the parenthesis, 
v/e add that of the conciseness of thought and 
variety of pronunciation, it sometimes bestows on 
the style and cadence of a sentence, we shall by 
no means think it a trifling or insignificant part of 
composition. 

But though the parenthesis has often an ex- 
cellent effect both in composition and delivery, 
yet, when it is used too frequently, or extended to 
too great a length, it embarrasses the reader, and 
obscures rather then illustrates the meaning of 
the author ; for which reason we find good writers 
constantly avoid a long and complicated paren- 
thesis. The best parenthesis, therefore, is the 
shortest; for as the main current of the sentence 
is standing still while this intervening member is 
pronounced, the thread of the discourse is bro- 
ken, a id, if discontinued too long, is with difficult}' 
taken up again. 

The real nature of the parenthesis once under- 
stood, we are at no loss for the true manner &f 



ELOCUTION. 2©3 

delivering it. The tone of voice ought to be in- 
terrupted, as it were, by something unforeseen; 
and, after a pause, the parenthesis should be pro- 
nounced in a lower tone of voice, at the end of 
which, after another pailse, the higher tone of 
voice, which was interrupted, should be resumed, 
that the connexion between the former and latter 
part of the interrupted sentence may be restored. 
It may be observed, too, that in order to preserve 
the integrity of the principal members, the paren- 
thesis ought not only to be pronounced in a 
lower tone, but a degree swifter than the rest of 
the period, as this still better preserves the broken 
% sense, and distinguishes the explanation from the 
text. For that this is always the case in conver- 
sation, we can be under no doubt whether we con- 
sider, that whatever is supposed to make our au- 
ditors wait, gives an impulse to the tongue, in or 
der to relieve them as soon as possible from the 
suspense of an occasional and unexpected inter- 
ruption. 

Paile I. The most general rule is, that the 
parenthesis always terminates with that pause and 
inflection of voice with which the interrupted 
part of the sentence that precedes it is marked ; 
for any closer connexion between the parenthesis, 
and the latter, than between the parenthesis and 
the former part of the sentence, would form a 
fresh member, compounded of the parenthesis 
and the latter part, and by this means leave the 
former imperfect. Accordingly, when the mem- 
ber immediately preceding the parenthesis ends 
with imperfect sense, or a comma and the rising 



204 ELEMENTS O*' 

inflection, (which is almost always the case,) the 
parenthesis ends with a comma, and the rising 
inflection likewise. 

EXAMPLE. 

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the Uw,) 
that the law hath dominion over a man as long" as he lHeth ? 

Rom. vii. 1' 



When it ends with perfect sense, generally 
marked whith a colon, and consequently requires 
the falling inflection of voice (which very seldom 
happens,) the parenthesis ends with a colon and 
falling inflection also. 



<L 



EXAMPLE. 



Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them with- 
out violence ; (for they feared the people, lest they should have 
been stoned:) And when they had brought them, they set them be- 
fore the council. Acts. v. 26, 27. 

But before we proceed to give other examples, 
it will be necessary to take notice, that though 
the pause and inflection, terminating the paren- 
thesis and the member that precedes it, may be 
said to be the same, it must still be understood 
to mean the same only as far as the difference of 
tone with which the parenthesis is pronounced 
will permit ; for if the parenthesis is to be pro- 
nounced in a lower tone than the principal sen^ 
truce, which seems universally allowed, the 
pause and inflection of voice with which the 
parenthesis ends, mast necessarily be pronounced 



ELOCUTION. 



205 



lower than the same pauses and inflections ter- 
minating the preceding member : but as this 
is only like reading the same sentence in a high- 
er or lower, in a louder or softer tone, (in all 
which modes of pronunciation the pauses and 
inflections have an exact proportion, and are cal- 
led the same, though different in some respects ; ) 
so the higher and lower tone with which the 
same pause and inflection are pronounced in and 
out of a parenthesis, may be so easily conceived, 
that, perhaps, this observation may, by most 
readers, be thought superfluous. To resume 
therefore the rule : 

A parenthesis must be pronounced in a lower 
tone of voice, and conclude with the same pause 
and inflection which terminate the member that 
immediately precedes it. 

EXAMPLES. 

Notwihstanding all this care of Cicero, history informs us that 
Marcus proved a mere blockhead ; and that nature (who it seems 
was even with the son for her prodigality to the father) rendered 
him incapable of improving, by all the rules of Eloquence, the 
precepts of philosophy, his own endeavours, and the most refined 
conversation in Alliens. Sped. No. 3 07. 

Natural historians observe (for whilst I am in the country I 
must fetch my allusions from thence) that only male birds have 
voices ; that their songs begin a little before breeding-time, and 
end a little after. Ibid. No. 128. 

Dr. Clarke/ has observed, that Homer is more perspicuous than 
any other author; but if he is so (which yet may be questioned) 
the perspicuity arises from his subject, and not from the language 
itself in which he writes. IVartPs Gratnmar, p. 292. 

The many letters which come to me from persons of the best 
sense in b6th sexes (for I may pronounce their chracters from their 
way of writing) do not a little encourage me in the prosecution of 
this my undertaking Spectator, JNu. 1^4, 



206 



ELEMENTS OF 



It is this sense which furnishes the imagination with its 
Meas ; so that by the pleasures of the imagination or fancy (which, 
I shall use promiscuously) I here mean such as arises from visible 
objects. ibid. No. 411. 

In these examples, we find the parenthesis 
break in upon the sense ; but as the interruption 
is short, and is also distinguished from the body 
of the sentence by a different tone of voice, as 
well as by pauses, it does not in the least em- 
barrass it. 

But when parentheses are long, which is 
sometimes the case in prose, and often in poetry, 
too much care cannot be taken to read them in 
so different a tone of voice from the rest . of the 
sentence, as may keep them perfectly seperate 
and distinct : this, is not only to be done by 
lowering the voice, and pronouncing the paren- 
thesis more rapidly, but by giving a degree of 
monotone or sameness to the voice, which will, 
perhaps, distinguish the parenthesis, and keep it 
from mingling with what incloses it better than 
any of the other peculiarities. Let us take a 
few examples by way of praxis. 

Since then every sort of good which is immediately of import- 
ance to happiness, must be perceived by some immediate power 
or sense, antecedent to any opinions or reasoning, (for it is the 
business of reason to compare the several sons of good perceived 
-by the several senses, and to find out the proper means foi? ob- 
taining them,) we must therefore carefully inquire into the seve- 
ral sublimer perceptive powers or senses ; since it is by them we 
best discover what state or course of life best answers the inten- 
tion «f <iU>d and nature, and wherein true happiness consists. 

Hutchesori's Moral Philosophy, book i. chap. i. sect. 5^ 

If sometimes on account of virtue we should be exposed U 
suck evils, which, is sometimes the c 4 se (though men are milcli 



ELOCUTION. 



207 



more frequently involved by their vices in such evils, and that in a 
more shameful base way) virtue can teach us to bear such evils 
with resolution, or to conquer them. 

Ibid. chap. ii. sect. 11 

r And although the diligent and active should not, without 
weighty causes, be any way restrained in their just acquisitions' 
(and, indeed, the best sorts of democracy may allow them to ac^ 
quire as much as can be requisite for any elegance or pleasure 
of life that a wise man could desire :) yet we are never to put in 
the balance with the liberty or safety of a people, the gratifying the 
vain ambition, luxury, or avarice of a few. 

Ibid, book ill ch. vi. sect. 1. 

For these reasons, the senate and people of A'thens, (with due 
veneration to the gods and heroes, and guardians of the Athenian 
eity and territory, whose aid they now implore ; and with due at- 
tention to the virtue of their ancestors, to whom the general liber- 
ty of Greece was ever dearer than the partiular interest of their 
own st^te) have resolved that a fleet of two hundred vessels shall 
be sent to sea, the admiral to cruise within the streights of Ther- 
mopylae. Lela?id's Demosthenes on the Crown. 

As to my own abilities in speaking (for I shall admit this 
charge, although experience hath convinced me, that what is cal- 
led the power of eloquence depends for the most part upon the 
hearers, and that the characters of public speakers are determined 
by that degree of favour which you vouchsafe to 6ach) ; if long 
practice, 1 say, hath given me any proficiency in speaking, you 
have ever found it devoted to my countiy. Ibidem. 

In these instances of the parenthesis, it will be 
found very difficult to keep the main thread of 
the subject entire, unless we distinguish the in- 
tervening member by a pause, a lower tone of 
voice, and a somewhat swifter and less varied 
tone than what precedes and follows : and we 
must never forget, that when the parenthesis is 
pronounced, the voice, after a short pause, must 
recover the higher tone it fell from, in order to 
preserve the connexion in the thought. With. 



208 



ELEMENTS OP 



out these precautions it will often be impossible 
to pronounce Milton so as to make him intelligi- 
ble. That sublime and excursive genius is like 
Homer, frequently, by the beauty of an interven- 
ing thought, carried so far out of the direct line 
of his subject as to make it impossible for his 
reader to preserve the direct line, but by distin- 
guishing those thoughts that vary from it by a 
different pronunciation. Let us adduce a few 
examples for practice. 

But what if he our ctfnqueror (whom I now 
Offeree believe almighty, since no less than such 
Could have o'er-powcr'd such force as 6urs) 
Have left us this our spirit and strength entire 
Strongiy to suffer and support our pains ? 

Par ad. Lost, b* i. v. 143. 

His spA\r (to equal which the tallest pine 
Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the wast 
Of some great admiral were but a wind) 
He walk'd with to support uneasy steps 
Over the burning marie. Ibid. v. 292. 

Know then, that after Lucifer from h*av'n 
(So call hirn brighter once amid^r the iiost 
Of angels than that star the srSfs among) 
Fell with his flaming legions through the deep 
Into his place, and the great Son return'd 
Victorious with his saints, th' omnipotent 
Eternal Father from his throne beheld 
Their multitude, and to his son thus spake. 

Ibid, book vii. v. 131. 

Hound he surveys (and well might where he stood 
So high above the circling canopy 
Of night's extended shade) from eastern point 
Of Libra, to the fleecy star that bears 
Andromeda far off Atlantic seas 
Beyond the horizon. Ibid, book iii. v. 555. 



ELOCUTION, 



209 



They anon 
With hundreds and with thousands trooping* came 
Attended : all access was throng'd ; the gates 
And porches wide, but chief the spacious h&U 
(Though like a cover'd field, where champions bold 
Wont ride in arm'd, and at the soldan's chair 
Defy'd the best of Panim chivalry 
To mortal combat, or career with l&nce) 
Thick swarm'd both on the ground, and in the air 
Brush'd with the hiss of rustling wings. 

Ibid. book. it). 752 

Under this article, perhaps, may be arranged 
aside speeches in dramatic works, and all the in- 
tervening explanatory members in narrative wri- 
ting : for both these species of members, like the 
parenthesis, require both a lower tone of voice 
and a more rapid pronunciation, than the rest of 
the composition. 

It may not, perhaps, be improper to observe, that 
the small intervening members, says /, says he^ 
continued they y &c. not only follow the inflection, 
but the tone of the member which precedes 
them : that is, if the preceding member bre'alsLs 
off with the rising inflection, these intervening 
members are not pronounced in a lower tone 
like other parentheses, but in a higher and feebler 
tone of voice than the rest. 

EXAMPLES. 

Thus then, said he, since you are so urgent, it is thus that I 
conceive it. The sovereign good is that, the possession of which 
renders us happy. And how, said I, do we possess it ? Is it sen- 
sual or intellectual \ There you are entering, said he, upon the 
detail. iforis 

S 2 



210 ELEMENTS OP 

The first intervening member said he •, is pro- 
nounced with the falling inflection somewhat 
feebler than the words thus then, which have the 
same inflection : the next intervening member, 
said I, has the falling inflection, in a feebler tone 
than the word how, which has the falling inflec- 
tion likewise ; but said he, in the next sentence, 
has the rising inflection like the preceding word 
entering, though in a feebler tone of voice. The 
same may be observed of the intervening mem- 
ber, says one of the frogs, in the following 
example : 

A company of waggish boys were watching of frogs at the 
side of a pond, and still as any of them put up their heads, 
they would be pelting them down again with stones : " Chil- 
I dren," (says one of the frogs), " you never consider, that 
<( though this may be play to you, it is death to us.'' 

V Estrange in Sped. Xo. 23. 

But when the intervening member goes far- 
ther than these simple phrases, they must always 
be pronounced in a lower tone of voice, and ter- 
minate with the rising inflection. 

EXAMPLES. 

I had Utters from him (here I felt in my p6ckets) that exactly 
spoke the Czar's character, which I knew perfectly well. 

Spectator, Xo. 136. 

Young master was alive last Whitsuntide, said the coachman. 
— Whitsuntide ! alas ! cried Trim, (extending his right arm, and 
falling instantly into the same attitude in which he read the ser- 
mon) — What is Whitsuntide, J6nathan (for that was the coach- 
man's name), or Shrovetide, or any tide or time past to this ? Are 
we not here n6\v, continued the cfirporal, (striking the end of 
his stick perpendicularly upon the floor, so as to give an idea 
of health and stability,) and are we r^t (dropping his hat upon 
the ground) gone in a m6ment ? Sterne \ 



ELOCUTION. 



211 



In these examples we perceive the parenthesis 
has a pronunciation much more different from 
the text than the small explanatory members, 
cried Trim, and continued the corporal, which, 
though pronounced in a different manner from 
the bodv of the sentence, have not so marked a 
difference as the parenthesis. 

Rule II. As the first general rule was, that 
the parenthesis ought to terminate with the same 
pause and inflection of voice as the member that 
preceded it ; the next general rule is, that the 
parenthesis, like the member immediately pre- 
ceding it, almost always terminates with the 
pause of the comma and the rising inflection: 
this has been abundantly exemplified in the 
foregoing instances ; and it will now be neces- 
sary to take notice of an exception of this rule, 
which is, when the parenthesis terminates with 
^an emphatical word which requires the falling- 
inflection; for in this case, emphasis requires 
that the parenthesis should terminate with the 
falling instead of the rising inflection. 

EXAMPLE. 

Had I, when speaking- in the assembly, been absolute and inde- 
pendent master of affairs, then your other speakers rmVht call me 

Ho account. But if ye were ever present, if ye were all in general 
nvited to propose your sentiments, if ye were all agreed that 
the measures then suggested were really the best; if you, JEs- 

^chines, in particular, were thus persuaded, (and it was no partial 
affection for me, that prompted you to give me up the hopes, 
the applause, the honours, which attended that course I then ad- 
vised, but the superior force of truth, and your utter inability to 
point out any more eligible course;) if this was the case, I say, 
is it not highly cruel and unjust to arraign those measures now, 
when you could not then propose any better ? 

LclancVs Demost. on the Crown. 



212 



ELEMENTS OF 



Here the parenthesis finishing with two parts 
in opposition to each other, and the first of them 
being negative, and the last positive, the sense 
necessarily requires that advised should termi- 
nate with the rising, and eligible course with the 
Falling inflection ; but as the member which im- 
mediately precedes the parenthesis is emphatical, 
and takes the falling inflection, likewise in this 
case the general rule is not broken. 

Cicero, speaking of the duty of magistrates, 
says — 

Care must be. taken that it b£ not (as was often done by our an- 
cestors through the smallness of the treasury and continuance of 
the w&rs) necessary to raise taxes ; and in order to prevent this, 
provision should be made against it long beforehand : but if the 
necessity of this service should happen to any state (which I had 
father suppose of another than our own ; nor am I now discoursing; 
of our 6wn but of every state in general) methods must be used 
to convince all persons (if they would be secure) that they ought 
ro submit to necessity. Cicero's Offices, book ii. c. 21 f 

In this passage are no less than three paren- 
theses ; the first and last, according to the gene- 
ral rule, end with the rising inflection; but the 
middle parenthetic member ending with two 
emphatic objects, the last of which requires the 
falling inflection, the general rule must be dis- 
pensed with. Why the negative part of a sen- 
tence requires the rising, and positive part the 
falling inflection, see Theory of Emphatic In- 
flection. 

Before we conclude this article, it may not be 
improper to take notice of a very erroneous prac* 
lice among printers, which is, substituting com- 



ELOCUTION. 



213 



mas instead of the hooks which mark a paren- 
thesis. Slight as this fault may appear at first 
sight, we shall find upon reflection, that it is pro- 
ductive of great inconveniences; for if the pa- 
renthesis ought to be read in a lower tone of 
voice, and these hooks which inclose it are a 
mark of this tone, how shall a reader be able to 
understand this at sight, if the marks of the pa- 
renthesis are taken away, and commas inserted 
in their stead? The difficulty of always deciding, 
what is a parenthesis, and what is not, may, per- 
haps, be some excuse for confounding it with 
other intervening members; but the absolute 
necessity of reading a real parenthesis with its 
proper tone of voice, makes it of some impor- 
tance to distinguish between this and the incident 
tal member which is often confounded with it. 
The best rule, therefore, to distinguish the 
member in question is, not merely to try if sense 
remains when it is left out of the sentence, but to 
see if the member so modifies the preceding 
member as to change it from a general to a par- 
ties lar meaning ; for if this be the case, the mem- 
ber, though incidental, is absolutely necessary to 
the Sense of the whole sentence, and consequent- 
ly cannot be a p irenthesis. An example will 
assist us in understanding this distinction, which 
is nearly the same as that which has been taken 
notice of in the definition of a sentence, p. 47. 



EXAMPLE. 



My friend the divine, having" been used with words of com- 
plaisance, (which he thinks could be properly applied to no man 



214 ELEMENTS OP 

living*, and I think could be only spoken of him, and that in 
his absence) was so offended with the excessive way of speaking 
civilities among us, that he made a discourse against it at the 
dub. 

The incidental member in this sentence, which, 
in every edition of the Spectator I have seen, is 
marked as a parenthesis, is certainly nothing 
more than an incidental member modifying that 
which ptecedes, and therefore ought to have no 
fall of the voice in pronouncing it as the paren- 
thesis requires ; for the words of complaisance are 
not merely these words in general, but such as 
he thought could be applied to no one living, 
&x. ; and consequently this modifying member 
ought not to be so detached from that which 
^t modifies, as to be pronounced in a lower tone 
of voice, as this would in some measure injure 
the sense. 

Thus have we gone through the several pauses 
and distinctions of punctuation, and to these 
pauses and distinctions have added such a slide or 
inflection of voice as is suited to express them 
with clearness, strength, and propriety. Our 
next attempt must be to show what pronunciation 
is required by accent, emphasis, variety, harmo- 
ny, and passion ; and this must be the subject of 
the second part of this work. 



- $ 



ELEMENTS 

OF 

ELOCUTION. 

PART II. 

ACCENT. 

AS Accent relates to the pronunciation of 
words taken singly, it can have little to do in an 
essay on the pronunciation of words in succes- 
sion, as Elocution, perhaps, may not improperly 
he called; for as words justly pronounced are 
merely the materials for delivery, these must all 
1)C supposed to be in our own possession be- 
fore we can possibly begin to arrange and display 
them to advantage. A person who pronounces 
every word singly with the greatest purity, may 
not be able to read well; and another may con- 
vey the sense of an author with great force and 
beauty, who does not always either pronounce 
the words justly, or place the accent on the pro- 
per syllable. The only point, therefore, in 
which it will be necessary to take notice of ac* 
cent in reading, is that where the emphasis re- 
quires a transposition of it: this happens when 
two words which have a sameness in part of their 
formation, are opposed to each other in sense. 
Thus, if I pronounce the words y^z"^ and injus- 



216 



ELEMENTS OF 



tice as single words, I nuturally place the ac- 
cent on the penultimate syllable of both ; but if 
I contrast them, and say, Neither justice nor in- 
justice have any thing to do with the present ques- 
tion ; in this sentence I naturally place the accent 
on the first syllable of injustice, in order the more 
forcibly and clearly to distinguish it from justice. 
This transposition of the accent, which is so evi- 
dently dictated by the sense, extends itself to all 
words which have a sameness of termination, 
though they may not be directly opposite in 
sense ; thus, if I wanted more particularly to 
show that I meant one requisite of dramatic story 
rather than another, I should say; In this species 
**f composition, plausibility is much more essential 
than probability ; and in the pronunciation of 
these words, I should infallibly transpose the ac- 
cent of both, from the third to the first syllables ; 
in order to contrast those parts of the words 
which are distinguished from each other by the 
import of the sentence. As an instance of the ne- 
cessity of attending to this emphatical accent, as 
it may be called, we need only give a passage 
from "the Spectator, N°. 189: 

In this case I may use the saying 1 of an eminent wit, who upon 
some great men's pessing him to forgive his daughter who had 
married against his consent, told them he could refuse nothing to 
their instances, but that he would have them remember there was 
a difference between giving and for giving. 

In this example, we find the whole of the pas- 

'sage depends on placing the accent on the*firsr 

syllable of forgiving, in order to contrast it more 



i 



ELOCUTION. 



217 



strongly with giving, to which it is opposed ; 
as, without this transposition of accent, the op- 
position, on which the sentiment turns, would 
be lost. 

Another instance will more fully illustrate 
the necessity of attending to this emphatical ac- 
cent. 

The prince for the public good has a sovereign property in every 
private person's estate ; and, consequently, his riches must. in~ 
crease or t/ecrease, in proportion to the number and riches of his 
subjects. Spectator, No. 200. 

The words increase and decrease have, in this 
example, the accent on the first syllable of each, 
as it is there the contrast in the sense lies. 

What has already been said of accent, as it re- 
lates to the art of reading, is, perhaps, more thau* 
sufficient ; but so much has been said about thv 
nature of this accent, both in the ancient and mo- 
dern languages, that it may not be improper to of- 
fer a few thoughts on the subject here. Almost 
all authors, ancient and modern, assert, that the 
accented syllable is pronounced in a higher tone 
than the rest ; but Mr. Sheridan insists that it is 
not pronounced higher but louder only.* What- 
ever may have been the nature of accent in the 
learned languages, certain it is, that the accented 
syllable in our own is always louder than the rest; 
and if we attend ever so little to the two kinds of 
inflection with which every accented word in a 

* See this erronious opinion of Mr. Sheridan clearly refuted in 
the Observations on the Greek and Latin Accent and Quantity at 
the end of the Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek and 
Latin Proper Names. 



18 



ELEMENTS OF 



sentence is pronounced, we shall soon see that the 

accented syllable is either higher or lower than the 

rest, according to the inflection which it adopts. 

Thus in this sentence, Plate III. N°. I. p. 220 : 

Sooner or later virtue must meet with a reward. 

Here I say the last syllable wardhas the foiling 
inflection ; and if we pronounce the word with- 
out emphasis, and merely as if we were conclu- 
ding the subject, this sylkftle will be pronounced 
louder and lower than the syllable immediately 
preceding ; but if we give emphasis to this sylla- 
ble, by opposing it to something else, we shall 
find it pronounced both higher and louder than 
the preceding syllables. Thus in the following 
Sentence, Plate'lll. N°. II : 

Most certainly virtue will meet with a reward, andnot punishment. 

Here the word reward has the same inflection 
as m the former instance, and the word punish- 
merit ends with the rising inflection ; but the syl- 
lable -ward is perceptibly higher as well as louder 
than the syllable that precedes it. Again, if 
we give this word the rising inflection, we shall 
find, in this case, that without emphasis the ac- 
cented syllable ward is pronounced both louder 
and higher than the preceding syllables. Thus 
N°. III. : 

If virtue must have a reward, it is our interest to be virtuous. 

These observations compare the accented syl 
lable with the preceding syllables only : it will in 
the next place be necessary to compare it with 



ELOCUTION, 219 

those that follow : for which purpose, let us 
observe the pronunciation of this sentence, N°* 
IV. 

We ought to avoid blame, though we cannot be perfect. 

Here, I say, if we give the word perfect the 
falling inflection, and pronounce it with emphasis, 
we shall find the first syllable very perceptibly 
higher and louder thafc|Jrhe last ; on the contra- 
ry, if we give the woycl perfect the rising infec- 
tion, we shall find the accented syllable louder 
than the last, though not so high ; for the last 
syllable perceptibly slides into a higher tone, 
Thus N°. V. • 

If we wish to be perfect, we must imitate Christ. 

These observations will, perhaps, be still bet- 
ter conceived, by watching our pronunciation of a 
word where the accent is nearly in the middle. 
Thus in this passage of Shakspeare : 

What earthly name to interrogatories. 

Shall task the free breath of a sacred king ? 'Kmg John, 

In this passage, I say, the syllable rog has the 
rising inflection, and is pronounced perceptibly 
louder and higher than the two first, and louder 
and lower than the three last : but if we give 
this syllable the falling inflection, as in this sen- 
tence : 

He is neither mov'd by intreaties nor iaterrdgatories, 

Here, I say, the syllable rog 9 if pronounced with 
the least degree of emphasis, is both louder and 
higher than either the preceding or subsequent 
syllables. 



220 



ELEMENTS OF 



t From these observations, this general conclu- 
sion may be drawn: Whatever infection be adopt- 
ed, the accented syllable is always louder than the 
rest ; but if the accent be pronounced with the ri- 
sing inflection, the accented syllable is higher than 
the preceding, and lower than the succeedmg syl- 
lable ; and if the accent have the falling inflection, 
the accented syllable is pronounced higher than any 
other syllable, either preceding or succeeding. 
The only exception to this is, the sentence, N° I. 
where the accent is on the last syllable of a 
word which has no emphasis, and is pronounced 
as forming a cadence at the conclusion of a dis- 
course. 

Sooner or later virtue must meet with a rev.-^rd. 

Here the last syllable, though pronounced lou- 
der than the first, is evidently pronounced a de- 
gree lower. 

It may not r perhaps, be improper to take no- 
lice of a common usage of the word accent, which, 
though seemingly inaccurate, will be found, upon 
examination, to be a just application of the word. 
It is the custom, not only of England, but of oth- 
er parts of the world which are seats of empire, 
to call those modes of pronunciation used in parts 
distant from the capital, by the name of accents* 
Thus we say, a native of Ireland speaks English 
with the Irish, and a native of Scotland with the 
Scotish accent ; though both these speakers pro- 
nounce every word with the accent on the very 
same syllable as the English. Why then do we 
say, they speak with a different accent ? One rca- 



ELOCUTION. 221 

son is ? that speaking sounds have never been suf- 
ficiently analysed to enable us to discover their 
component parts, which makes us take up with 
indefinite and unspecific terms, instead of such as 
are precise and appropriated to their object. This 
has greatly obscured the notion of accent,and led 
Mr. Sheridan to suppose, that accent in our lan- 
guage is no more than a force upon a certain syl- 
lable of a word, which distinguishes it from the 
rest; but that accent has no reference to inflec- 
tions of voice, and for that reason the word is 
used by us in the singular number. * Others 
have imagined, that we have two accents, the 
grave and acute ; but in the definition of these, 
they seem only to mean that the latter has a grea- 
ter degree of force than the former. Thus, for 
want of the simple distinction of the rising and 
falling slide of the voice, with which every ac- 
cented syllable must necessarily be pronounced, 
the nature of our own accent seems as obscure, 
and as little understood, as that of the Greeks and 
Romans : and it is to this obscurity we owe the 
supposed impropriety of calling a dialect by the 
name of accent ; for though there are other dif- 
ferences in the Scotish and Irish pronunciation 
of English besides this, it is to the difference of 
accent that the chief diversity is owing : if we 
understand accent only as force or stress, there is, 
indeed, the slighest difference imaginable ; since 
in both those kingdoms the stress is (to the ex- 
ception of very few words indeed) laid on the 
same syllable as in England ; and, for this reason, 

* Essay on the Harmony of Language. IZobsir.. tT74 

T 2 



222 ELEMENTS OF 

the laws of poetry are exactly the same in all ; 
but if we divide accent into grave and acute, and 
call the acute, the stress with the rising inflection, 
and the grave, the stress with the failing inflection, 
we shall then see the propriety of saying, such a 
one speaks with the Irish or Scotch accent ; for 
though the Irish place the stress precisely on the 
same syllable as the English, it is often with a 
different inflection ; and the same may be said of 
the Scotch. Thus the Scotch pronounce the far 
greater part of their words with the acute accent, 
or rising inflection, and the Irish as constantly 
make use of the grave accent, or falling inflection, 
while the English observe pretty nearly a due 
mixture of each. If we pronounce a sentence 
in these three different modes, it may, perhaps, 
suggest to the ear the truth of the foregoing obser- 
vations. 

Scotch. 
Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

Irish. 
Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

English. 
Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

If these observations are just, the Irish ought 
to habituate themselves to a more frequent use of 
the rising inflection, and the Scotch to the falling, 
in order to acquire what is not (from this view 
of the subject) improperly called the English ac- 
cent. 

But, besides the two simple accents, which, 
from the rising or falling inflection they adopt, 



ELOCUTION. ^23 



may be called the acute and the grave ; there are 
two other accents compounded of these, which 
may be called the rising and falling circumflexes. 
These are totally unknown to the moderns : but 
are so inherent in the nature of the human 
voice, and so demonstrable upon experiment, as 
to defy contradiction. See Preface to this work, 
m the Notes. 



EMPHASIS. 

Introduction to the Theory of Emphasis* 

Emphasis, in the most usual sense of the 
word, is that stress with which certain words are 
pronounced, so as to be distinguished from the 
rest of the sentence. Among the number of 
words we make use of in discourse, there will al- 
ways be some which are more necessary to be un- 
derstood than others : those things with which 
we suppose our hearers to be pre-acquainted, we 
express by such a subordination of stress as is 
suitable to the small importance of things already 
understood; while those of which our hearears 
are either not fully informed, or which they might 
possibly misconceive, are enforced with such an 
increase of stress as makes it impossible for the 
hearer to overlook or mistake them; Thus, as 
in a picture, the more essential parts of a sentence 
are raised, as it were, from the level of speakings 
and the less necessary are, by this means, sunk 
into a comparative obscurity. 



224 



ELEMENTS OF 



From this general idea of emphasis, it will rea- 
dily appear of how much consequence it is to 
readers and speakers not be to mistaken in it ; the 
necessity of distinguishing the emphaucal words 
from the rest, has made writers on this subject ex- 
tremely solicitous to give such rules for placing 
the emphasis, as may, in some measure, facilitate 
this difficult part of elocution: but few have gone 
farther than to tell us, that we must place the em- 
phasis on that word in reading, which we should 
make emphatical in speaking ; and though the 
importance of emphasis is insisted on with the 
utmost force and elegance of language, no assist- 
ance is given us to determine w^hich is the em- 
phatic word where several appear equally em- 
phatical, nor have we any rule to distinguish be- 
tween those words which have a greater, and 
those which have a lesser degree of stress ; the 
sense of the author is the sole direction we are 
referred to, and ail is left to the taste and under- 
standing of the reader. 

One writer, indeed, the author of the Philo- 
sophical Inquiry into the Delivery of written Lan- 
guage, has given us a distinction of emphasis into 
two kinds, which has thrown great light upon this 
abstruse subject. This gentleman distinguishes 
the stress into emphasis of force, and emphasis of 
sense. " Emphasis of force," he tells us, " is 
" that stress we lay on almost every significant 
;i word ; emphasis of sense, is that stress we lay 
'< on one or two particular words, which distin- 
f£ guishes them from all the rest in the sen- 
*' tence." — " The former stress," he observes, 



ELOCUTION. 



225 



" is variable, according to the conception and 
" taste of the reader, and cannot be reduced to 
" any certain rule :" " the latter," he says, " is de* 
u ter mined by the sense of the author, and is al- 
" ways fixed and invariable." This distinction, 
it must be owned, is, in general, a very just one ; 
and a want of attending to it, has occasioned great 
confusion in this subject, even in our best wri- 
ters. They perceived, that besides those words 
which were strongly emphatical, there were many 
others that had a stress greatly superior to the 
particles and less significant words, and these 
they jumbled together under the general term 
emphasis. Thus when the emphatical words 
were to be marked by being printed in a different 
character, we find in several of the modern pro- 
ductions on the art of reading, that sometimes 
more than half the words are printed in Italics^ 
and considered as equally emphatical. The 
wrong tendency of such a practice is sufficiently 
obvious, but its origin was never pointed out till 
the publication of the essay above mentioned. 
This must be allowed to have thrown considera- 
ble light on the subject ; and it is by the assis- 
tance which this author has given, that I shall en- 
deavour to push my inquiries into emphasis still 
farther than he has done : I shall not only estab- 
lish the distinction he has laid down, but attempt 
to draw the line between these two kinds of em- 
phasis, so as to mark more precisely the bounda- 
ries of each. To this distinction of emphasis, 
I shall add another : I shall make a distinction 



226 



ELEMENTS OF 



of each into two kinds, according to the inflec- 
tion of voice they adopt ; which, though of the 
utmost importance in conveying a just idea of 
emphasis, has never been noticed by any of our 
writers on the subject. This distinction of em- 
phasis arises naturally from the observations al- 
ready laid down, on the rising and falling inflec- 
tion ;- Ave have seen the importance of attending 
to these two inflections in the several parts and at 
the end of a sentence ; and it is presumed, the u- 
tility of attending to the same inflections, when 
applied to emphasis, will appear no less evident 
and unquestionable. 

But before we enter into this distinction of 
emphatic inflection, it may not be improper to 
*show more precisely the distinction of emphasis, 
into that which arises from the peculiar sense of 
one or two words in a sentence, and that which 
arises from the greater importance of the nouns, 
verbs, and other significant words, than of con- 
nectives and particles. And, first, let us exam- 
ine some passages where only the latter kind of 
emphasis is found ; this emphasis, if it may be so 
called, takes place on almost every word in a sen- 
tence, but the articles, prepositions, and smaller 
parts of speech ; and by pronouncing these fee- 
bly, we give a force to the other w r ords, that is 
commonly, but improperly styled emphasis. 

Thus, in pronouncing the following sentence 
in the Spectator : 

Gratian very often recommends the fine taste as the utmost per= 
faction of an accomplished man. Sgect. No. 409= 



ELOCUTION. 227 

We may perceive a very evident difference in 
the force with which these words are pronoun- 
ced : the article the, the conjunction and particle 
as the, and the preposition and aritcle of an, are 
very distinguishable from the rest of the words by 
a less forcible pronunciation ; and this less forci- 
ble pronunciation on the smaller words, raises the 
others to some degree of emphasis. If we 
pronounce the next sentence properly, we 
shall find several other words sink into an obscu- 
rity of the same kind, and by their feebleness a 
comparative degree of force thrown on the rest 
of the words. 

As this word arises very often in conversation,! shall endeavour 
to give some account of it ; and to lay down rules how we may 
know whether we are possessed of it ; and how we may acquire 
that fine taste in writing which is so much talked of among the 
polite world. Ibid. 

In this sentence we find the prepositions, con- 
junction, aiid pronoun it, pronounced with the 
same degree of feebleness as in the last instance ; 
and besides these we find the words, / shall, we 
may, we are, and which is, pronounced much 
more feebly than the rest of the words ; this can 
be owing to nothing but the nature of the words 
themselves, which, though indicating person, 
promise, power, and existence, exhibit none of 
these particulars emphatically ; that is, these 
words imply only such general circumstances as 
the objects are commonly supposed to be accom- 
panied with, and therefore are anticipated or pre- 
supposed by the hearer ; for whatever the hearer 
is supposed to be acquainted with, is not the ob- 
ject of communication : the person speaking is 



C 22H 



ELEMENTS OF 



under no necessity of telling his auditors that he 
in particular shall do any thing, unless he means 
to distinguish himself from some other speaker; 
for that he speaks^ is very well understood by ev- 
ery one who hears him; and for this reason, 
whatever has been once mentioned, is gener- 
ally pronounced afterwards with less force than 
at first, as supposed to be already sufficiently 
known. 

As an instance of the variety which this em- 
phasis of force (as it is called) admits, it may not 
be improper to mark the foregoing sentence two 
different ways ; first with such words».in Italics as 
seem necessarily to require a greater force than 
the particles ; and then to add to these, such words 
as we may pronounce in the same manner without 
altering the sense. 

As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour 
to give some account of it ; and to lay down rales how we may 
hnorj whether we are possessed of it ; and how we may acquire that 
fine taste in -writing which is so much talked of among the polite 
world. 

As this word arises very often in conversation, I shall endeavour to- 
give some account of it ; and to lay dow?i inrfes how we may know 
whether we are possessed of it* and how we may acquire that fine 
taste in writing which is so much talked of among the polite world. 

It may, however, be observed, that though the 
last manner of marking this sentence is more 
emphatical, the first is the most easy and na- 
tural. 

I shall offer another instance to show the dif- 
ference in the stress we lay on different words in 
a sentence, and then proceed to an examination 
of that stress which may be properly styled em- 



ELOCUTION. 



229 



phatical. Thus if we repeat the folio wing sen- 
tence, 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution, 

We find the particles and and the, pronounced 
much more feebly than the other words : and yet 
these other words cannot be properly called em- 
phatical; for the stress that is laid on them is no 
more than what is necessary to convey distinct- 
ly the meaning of each word : but if a word 
which has emphasis of sense be thrown into this 
sentence, we shall soon perceive a striking dif- 
ference between these words and the emphatical 
one ; thus, if we were to say, 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent con- 
stitution. 

Here we shall find the word indifferent , pro- 
nounced much more forcibly than the words ex- 
ercise, temperance, and strengthen, as these words 
are more forcibly pronounced than the particles 
and and the, and even than the word constitu- 
tion : for as this word comes immediately after 
the emphatic word indifferent, and is, by the very 
import of emphasis, in some measure understood, 
it sinks into the same degree of obscurity with 
the particles, and cannot be raised from this ob- 
scurity without diminishing the force of the em» 
phatic word itself . 

If it should be asked what degree of force are 
we to give to these obscure words, it may be 
answered, just that force which we give to the 
unaccented syllables of words ; so that two words, 
one accented and the other not, are to the ear ex- 

U 



230 



ELEMENTS OF 



actly like one word ; thus the words, even an in- 
different constitution, are sounded like a word of 
eleven syllables, with the accent on the fifth. For, 
a full explication of the relative force of words, 
see Rhetorical Grammar, p. 97. 

This brings us to a threefold distinction of 
words with regard to the force with which they 
are pronounced ; namely, the conjunctions, par- 
ticles, and words understood, which are obscure- 
ly and feebly pronounced; the substantive's, 
verbs, and more significant words, which are firm- 
ly and distinctly pronounced ; and the emphatical 
word, which is forcibly pronounced : it is the 
last of these only which can be properly styled 
emphasis ; and it is to a discovery of the nature 
and cause of this emphasis, that all our attention 
ought to be directed. 

And first we may observe, that if these dis- 
tinctions are just, the common definition of em- 
phasis is very faulty. Emphasis is said to be a 
stress laid on one or more words to distinguish 
them from others", but this definition, as we have 
just seen, makes almost every word in a sentence 
emphatical, and, at the same time, confounds the 
distinction between words which have force from 
a peculiarity of meaning, and those which have 
force from having only a general meaning, or 
more meaning than the particles. Here then we 
must endeavour to investigate a juster defini- 
tion ; such a one as will enable us to distinguish 
words which are really emphatical, from those 
which are only pronounced with common force : 
m\ as the ingenious author above mentioned has 



ELOCUTION", 



231 



observed, these latter words may sometimes be 
forcibly, and sometimes feebly pronounced, 
without any importance to the sense, as has been 
shown in the last example but one ; but the for- 
mer, that is, such words as are truly emphatical,, 
must always have their just degree of force and 
energy, or the sense will be manifestly injured : 
this Emphasis of sense, therefore, ought to be 
tjie first object of inquiry. 

The principal circumstance that distinguishes 
emphatical words from others, seems to be a 
meaning which points out, or distinguishes, some- 
thing as distinct or opposite to some other thing, 
When this opposition is expressed in words, it 
forms an antithesis, the opposite parts of which 
are always emphatical. Thus in the follow- 
ing couplet from Pope: 

*Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill 
Appear in writing 1 or in judging ill. 

The words writing dxi&judging are opposed to 
each, and are therefore the emphatical words : 
where we may likewise observe, that the disjunc- 
tive or, by which the antithesis is connected, 
means one of the things exclusively of the other. 

The same may be observed in another cou- 
plet from the same author ; where one branch o 
the antithesis is not expressed but understood :f 

Get wealth and place, if possible with grace, 
If not by any means g*et wealth and place, 

Here it appears evidently, that the words any 
means, which are the most emphatical, are direct- 
ly opposed to the means understood by the word 



232 



ELEMENTS OF 



grace, and the last line is perfectly equivalent to 
this : If not by these means, by any other means, 
get wealth and place. 

In these instances, the opposition suggested 
by the emphatical word is evident at first sight ; 
in other cases, perhaps, the antithesis is not quite 
so obvious ; but if an emphasis can be laid on 
any word, we may be assured that word is an an- 
tithesis with some meaning agreeable to the gen- 
eral sense of the passage. 

To illustrate this, let us pronounce a line of 
Marcus in Cato, where, expressing his indigna- 
tion at the behaviour of Caesar, he says, 

I'm tortur'd ev'n to madness, when I think 
Of the proud victor 

And we shall find the greatest stress fall natur- 
ally on that word, which seems opposed to some 
common or general meaning ; for the young he- 
ro does not say, in the common and unem- 
phatic sense of the word think, that he is tortur- 
ed even to madness when he thinks on Caesar ; 
but in the strong and emphatic sense of this word, 
which implies, not only when I hear or discourse 
of him, but even when I think of him, I am tor- 
tured even to madness. £s the word think there- 
fore rises above the common level of significa- 
tion it is pronounced above the common level 
of sound ; and as this signification is opposed to 
a signification less forcible, the word may be pro- 
perly said to be emphatical. 

This more than ordinary meaning, or a mean- 
ing opposed to some other meaning, seems to be 



ELOCUTION. 



233 



the principal source of emphasis ; for if, as in 
the last instance, we find the words will bear 
this opposition to their common signification, we 
may be sure they are ernphatical ; this will be 
still more evident from another example : 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in 
a dungeon is capable of entertaining- himself with scenes and land- 
skips, more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole 
compass of nature. Spectator, No. 411. 

Ifwe read this passage without that emphasis 
which the word dungeon requires, we enervate 
the meaning, and scarcely give the sense of the 
author ; for the import plainly is that a lively im- 
agination , not merely absent from beautiful scenes 
but even in a dungeon, can form scenes more beau- 
tiful than any in nature. 

This plenitude of meaning in a particular 
word, is not always so prominent as to be discern- 
ible by a common reader ; but wherever it really 
exists, the general meaning of the author is great- 
ly enforced by emphatically pointing it out. Let 
us take an example : 

Steele begins one of his letters in the Spectator 
with the following sentence : 

I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several 
speculations, that the art of painting is so little made use of, to the 
improvement of our manners. Sped. No. 226* 

As in this sentence, which is the first in the es- 
say it is taken from, we find a new and important 
object introduced ; so, if we do not pronounce it 
with emphasis, it will not be sufficiently noticed. 
The word painting; as it stands in this sentence 
U 2 



234 ELEMENTS OF 

may very well be supposed to be in contrast 
with other arts, which, though often used for the 
improvement of manners, are, perhaps, not so 
conducive to that end, as this particular art : this 
antithesis is perfectly understood if the word 
painting is made emphatical, but entirely lost if 
it is pronounced feebly : nay, sliding it over 
without emphasis, will suppose the hearer pre- 
acquainted widi the subject to be treated, con- 
trary to what is really the case : this will be still 
more apparent by pronouncing it both ways ; 
first, without the proper stress on the word 
painting, and afterwards with it. 

I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several 
speculations, that the art of painting is so little made use of to the 
improvement of our manners. 

I have very often lamented, and hinted my sorrow in several 
speculations, that the art of painting is so little made use of to the 
improvement of our manners. 

In these instances we find every emphatical 
word placed in opposition, as it were, to some 
meaning which it seems to exclude. 

Wherever the contrariety or opposition is ex- 
pressed, we are at no loss for the emphatical 
words ; the greatest difficulty in reading, lies 
in a discovery* of those words which are in oppo- 
sition to something not expressed, but under- 
stood ; and the best method to find the emphasis 
in these sentences, is to take the word we sup- 
pose to be emphatical, and try whether it will admit 
of those words being supplied whieh an empha- 
sis on it would suggest : if, when • these word s 
are supplied , we find them not only agreeable to 



ELOCUTION, 



235 



the meaning of the writer, but an improvement 
of his meaning, we may pronounce the word 
emphatical ; but if these words we 'supply, are 
not agreeable to the meaning of the words expres- 
sed, or else give them an affected and fanciful 
meaning, we ought by no means to lay the em* 
phasis upon them : Let us take an example of 
both these kinds of emphasis. 
Mr. Addison, in one of his Spectators, showing 
the advantages of good taste, says — 

A man of a polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures 
that the vulgar are not capable of receiving- ; he can converse with. 
a picture, and find an agreeable companion in a statue. 

Spectator, No. 411, 

We shall find but few readers lay any consid- 
erable stress upon the word picture, in this sen* 
tence; but if we examine it by the former rule, 
we shall find a stress upon this word a consider- 
able embellishment to the thought ; for it hints 
to the mind that a polite imagination does not on- 
ly find pleasure in conversing with those objects 
which give pleasure to all, but with those which 
give pleasure to such only as can converse with 
them ; here then the emphasis on the word pic- 
ture, is not only an advantage to the thought, but 
in some measure necessary to it. This will ap» 
pear still more evidently by reading the passage 
both ways, as in the last example. 

But if emphasis does not improve, it always 
vitiates the sense ; and, therefore, should be al- 
ways avoided where the use of it is not evident; 



236 ELEMENTS OF 

this will appear by placing an emphasis on a 
word in a sentence which does not require it : 

I have several letters by me from people of good sense, who la- 
ment the depravity or poverty of taste the town is fallen into with 
relation to plays and public spectacles. Spectator, No. 208. 

Now, if we lay a considerable degree of em- 
phasis upon the words good sense, it will strongly 
suggest that the people here mentioned are not 
common or ordinary people, which, though not 
opposite to the meaning of the writer, does not 
seem necessary either to the completion or em- 
bellishment of it ; for as particularly marking 
these people out as persons of good sense, seems 
to obviate an objection that they might possibly 
be fools, and as it would not be veiy wise to sup- 
pose this objection, it would show as little wis- 
dom to endeavour to preclude it by a more 
than ordinary stress ; the plain words of the au- 
thor, therefore, without any emphasis on them, 
sufficiently show his meaning. 

From these observations, the following defini- 
tion of emphasis seems naturally to arise : em- 
phasis, when applied to particular words, is that 
stress roe lay on words, which are in contradistinc- 
tion to other words either expressed or under- 
stood. And hence will follow this general rule: 
Wherever there is contradistinction in the sense 
of the words, there ought to be emphasis in the 
pronunciation of them ; the converse of this be- 
ing equally true, Wherever we place emphasis 
we suggest the idea of contradistinction. 



ELOCUTION. 



237 



Emphasis thus investigated and denned, we 
may observe, that all words are pronounced 
either with emphatic force, accented force, or 
unaccented force; this last kind of force we 
may call by the name of feebleness ; or, in other 
words, where the words are in contradistinction 
to other words, or to some sense implied, we 
may call them emphatic ; where they do not de- 
note contradistinction, and yti are more import- 
ant than the particles, we may call them accent- 
ed, and the particles and lesser words we may 
call unaccented or feeble ; for if we observe the 
pronunciation of these latter words, we shall 
find they have exactly the same feebleness as the 
unaccented syllables of a word whose accented 
syllable is pronounced with some degree of force ; 
we shall see likewise, that an accented word, 
which has a degree of force, when compared 
with unaccented words; when it is joined with 
an emphatic one, and pronounced immediately 
before or after it, sinks into a feebleness equal to 
the unaccented words; and that the unaccented 
syllables, even of an emphatic word, are pro- 
nounced with as much less force than the accent- 
ed syllable, as the unaccented syllables of an ac- 
cented word, are less forcible than the accented 
syllable of an unemphatic word. These obsen* 
vations are exemplified in the pronunciation of 
the following sentence : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent con, 
stitution, 



238 



ELEMENTS OF 



In the first of these sentences, the particles 
and and the are pronounced like unaccented sylla- 
bles of temperance and constitution : in the last 
sentence, the word constitution is pronounced 
with the same feebleness as the particles and and 
the ; and the two last syllables of the emphatic 
word indifferent, are as much below the second 
syllable in force, as the particles and unaccented 
syllables are below those which have an accent. 

By this threefold distinction we are enabled to 
make very considerable advances in the methods 
of conveying instruction in reading; we can not 
only mark the emphatic words as usual, but dis- 
tinguish them from the accented: these again 
may be distinguished from the unaccented, and 
by these means we make a nearer approach to the 
sense of composition, and to a method of con- 
veying our delivery of it to others. But a still 
greater advance remains to be made by another 
distinction: a distinction, which, to the former 
advantages of marking the different degrees of 
force on words, adds the still more striking dif- 
ference of inflection of voice. This distinction, 
though obvious and palpable, is perfectly new ; 
and it is hoped it has been so explained in the 
first part of this work, as to be readily compre- 
hended by the reader ; for w^hen it is once com- 
prehended, we may strongly presume that it can- 
not fail to add greatly to instruction in speaking, 
as these two different inflections of voice are the 
most marking and significant distinctions of 
speech. 



ELOCUTION. ^39 

As a specimen of the utility of these distinc- 
tions of emphasis and inflection, we may observe, 
that a difference of character may express the 
different degrees of force with which every word 
is pronounced, and a different accent may show 
what inflection each of these forces must adopt. 
Thus in the following example : 

"Exercise and temperance strengthen even in LYDIfFEliENT 

constitution. 

Here we see a threefold distinction of force : 
the word indifferent is emphatical, and has the 
greatest stress; the words exercise, temperance, 
and strengthen, have a lesser degree of force ; 
and the words and, even, an, and constitution, 
have a still smaller degree of stress, and may be 
said to be absolutely feeble : and these different 
forces are diversified by the difference of inflec- 
tion, as marked in the example. But although, 
in certain critical cases, where the sense of an 
author is difficult to point out, all these three 
distinctions may greatly assist us in conveying 
the exact pronunciation ; yet in general, it will 
be quite sufficient to mark the emphatic word 
with small Italics, and the rest with Roman let- 
ters, without entering into the distinction of the 
feeble words from those that have a secondary 
force.; which feeble words, if necessary to be 
pointed out, may be denoted by the small Ro- 
man letter, and their different inflections by a 
different accent. 

Those who wish to see this notation more 
distinctly delineated, may consult the Rhetori- 



240 ELEMENTS OF 

cal Grammar; where, it is presumed, they 
will find the fullest satisfactiQn respecting the 
relative force of unaccented words. 

Theory of Emphatic Inflection. 

Having thus endeavoured to give a clear and 
distinct idea of the two different kinds of em- 
phasis, and attempted to prove, that emphasis, 
properly so called, always supposes contradis- 
tinction, or antithesis, either expressed or uiu 
derstood ; it will now be necessary to show that 
every emphatic word, properly so called, is as 
much distinguished by the inflection it adopts, 
as by the force with which it is pronounced. 

We have seen already, that where there is no 
emphasis, the most significant words in a sen- 
tence adopt a different inflection of voice for the 
sake of variety and harmony: for, provided the 
sentence reads well, it is of no consequence on 
which words the different inflections are placed. 
Thus in the following sentence : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution 

In this sentence, I say, the words temperance 
and strengthen have the rising, and exercise and 
constitution the falling inflection ; but if this sen- 
tence were lengthened by the addition of another 
member, we should find the inflections shift 
their places. Thus in the following sentence : 

'Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution and 
sweeten the enjoyments of life. 

Here, I say, the words exercise and constitu- 
tion have the rising, and temperance and strength- 



ELOCUTION. 241 

en the falling inflection, as most agreeable to the 
harmony of the whole sentence : but if a word 
really emphatical had been in the first sentence, 
no additional member would have obliged it to 
alter its inflection. Thus in the following sen- 
tence : 

^Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent con- 
stitution. 

Here the word indifferent, which is really em- 
phatical, has the falling inflection ; and this in- 
flection it will still preserve, though we lengthen 
the sentence in imitation of the former by an ad- 
ditional member. For example : 

'Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent consti- 
tution, and supply, in some measure the imperfections of nature 

Here we find that, however the inflection may 
change place on the rest of the words, the word 
indifferent must always have the falling inflection, 
or the sense of the sentence will not be brought 
perfectly out. In the same manner we may ob- 
serve, that the same word in another sentence, 
when it requires the rising inflection, cannot alter 
that inflection to the falling, without injuring the 
sense. Thus in the following sentence : 

He that has but an indifferent constitution ought to strengthen 
it by exercise and temperance. 

Here the word indifferent must necessarily 
have the emphasis with the rising inflection,, 
whatever may be the inflection on the other 
words. 

X 



-**** ELEMENTS Of 

As a farther proof that emphatic words cannot 
alter their inflection, we need only attend to the 
pronunciation of a line in Milton, where two 
emphatic words are opposed to each other ; speak- 
ing of Nimrod, he says — 

Hunting (and men not beasts shall be his game). B. xii v. 30. 

In pronouncing this passage, we shall find every 
reader lay the falling inflection on men, and the 
rising on beasts, as giving them a contrary posi- 
tion, that is; pronouncing men with the rising, 
and beasts with the falling inflection, would socn 
convince us that the former arrangement is pre- 
cisely what the sense demands. 

From these observations this maxim arises, 
that as the emphasis of a word depends on the 
sense of a sentence, so the inflection of voice 
which this emphatic word adopts, depends on 
the sense likewise, and is equally invariable: 
from whence it will evidently follow, that where 
there are two emphatic words in the same sen- 
tence, the sense alone can decide which is to have 
the rising, and which the falling inflection of 
voice. 

It has been already proved, that emphasis al- 
ways implies antithesis; and that where this an- 
tithesis is agreeable to the sense of the author, 
the emphasis is proper; but that where there is 
bo antithesis in the thought, there ought to be 
none on the words ; because, whenever an em- 
phasis is placed upon an improper word, it will 
,-tfggest an antithesis, which either does not exist, 



ELOCUTION. 



243 



or is not agreeable to the sense and intention of 
the writer. Here some new light seems to be 
thrown on the nature of emphasis, and a line 
drawn to distinguish emphatic words from others ; 
but still we are at a loss for the reason why one 
emphatic word should adopt the rising inflection, 
and another the falling: from the foregoing ex- 
amples, it appears, that every emphatic word re- 
quires either the one or the other of these inflec- 
tions, and that the meaning of an author entirely 
depends on giving each emphatic word its pecu- 
liar inflection. It does not seem therefore entire- 
ly useless, so far to inquire into the nature, or 
specific quality, if I may be allowed to call it so, 
of these two emphatic inflections, as to be able to 
decide which we shall adopt where the sense of 
the author does not immediately dictate. Thus 
in a former quotation from Milton, when speak- 
ing of Nimrod, he says, 

Hunting (and men not beasts shall be his game.) 

Here I say, the ear and understanding are both 
immediately satisfied upon pronouncing men with 
the falling, and beasts with the rising inflection ; 
but in another line of the same author, when 
speaking of Satan, he calls him, 

The tempter ere th' accuser of mankind. 

Here, I say, it is not quite so clear how we shall 
dispose of these two inflections on the two em- 
phatic words tempter and accuser ; and an inqui- 
ry into the nature of these inflections, so as to fix 



244 



ELEMENTS OF 



the peculiar import of each, may, perhaps, assist 
us in deciding with precision in this and similar 
instances. 

It has been observed, that emphasis is divisible 
into two kinds, namely, into that where the anti- 
thesis is expressed, and that where it is only im- 
plied; or, in other words, into that emphasis 
where there are two or more emphatic words cor- 
responding to each other, and that where the em- 
phatic word relates to some other word, not ex- 
pressed but understood ; an instance of the first 
is this : 

When a Persian soldier was reviling- Alexander the Great, his 
officer reprimanded him by saying 1 , Sir, you were paid to fight 
against Alexander, and not to rail at him. ' Spectator. 

Here we mid fight and rail are the two em- 
phatic words which correspond to each other, and 
that the positive member which affirms something, 
adopts the falling inflection on fight , and the neg- 
ative member which excludes something, has the 
rising inflection on rail. 

An instance of the latter kind of emphasis is 
this : 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man 
in a dungeon is capable of entertaining himself with scenes and 
"iandskips, more beautiful than any that can be found in the whole 
cempass of nature. Spectator, No. 411. 

Here we find the word dungeon emphatrcal, but 
it has not any correspondent word as in the other 
sentence. If we pronounce this emphatic word 
with the falling inflection, the correspondent 
words which belong to this emphasis may be im- 
agined to be nearly these, not merely absent from 
beautiful scenes ; which, if added to the word dun 



ELOCUTION. 



245 



geon, we should find perfectly agreeable to the 
sense suggested by the emphasis on that word ; 
if we draw out this latter sentence at length, we 
shall find it consist of the same positive and neg- 
ative parts as the former, and that the positive 
part assumes the falling, and the negative the ri- 
sing infiection in both. 



EXAMPLES. 



When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexander the Great, his 
officer reprimanded him by saying- ; Sir, you were paid to fight Al- 
exander, and not to rail at him. 

By the faculty of a lively and picturesque imagination, a man in 
a dungeon, and not merely absent from beautiful scenes, is capable 
of entertaining* himself with scenes and landskips, more beautiful 
than any that can be found in the whole compass of nature. 

Here then we are advanced one step towards a 
knowledge of what inflection of voice we ought 
to use on one kind of emphasis ; for whenever 
the emphatic word points out a particular sense in 
exclusion of some other sense, this emphatical 
word adopts the falling inflection: the wordflght, 
therefore, in the first, and dungeon in the last ex- 
ample, must necessarily be pronounced with the 
falling inflection, as they tacitly exclude rail, and 
mere absence from beautiful scenes, which are in 
contradistinction to them. 

Having thus discovered the specific import of 
one emphatic inflection, it will not be very diffi- 
cult to trace out the other : for as the import of 
these two inflections may be presumed to be dif- 
ferent, we may, by analogy, be led to con- 

X 2 



246 



ELEMENTS OF 



elude, that as the emphatic word which excludes 
something in contradistinction to it, demands the 
falling inflection, the emphasis with the rising in- 
flection is to be placed on those words, which , though 
in contradistinction to something else, do not abso- 
lutely exclude its existence. Let us try this by 
an example. Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, 
expressing his contempt for the opposition of 
Horatio, says, 

By the joys 
Which yet my soul has uncontrol'd pursu'd, 
I would not turn aside from my least pleasure 
Though all thy force were arm'd to bar my way. 

Fair Penitent, Act ii. 

The word thy, in this passage, has the emphasis 
with the rising inflection ; which intimates, that 
however Lothario might be restrained by the force 
of others, Horatio's force, at least, was too insig- 
nificant to control him : and as a farther proof 
that this is the sense suggested by the rising in- 
flection on the word thy, if we do but alter the in- 
flection upon this word, by giving it the emphasis 
with the falling inflection, we shall find, that instead 
of contempt and sneer, a compliment will be paid 
to Horatio ; for it would imply as much as if Lo- 
thario had said, / would not turn aside from my 
least pleasure, not only though common force, but 
even though thy force, great as it is, were armed 
to bar my way : and that this cannot be the sense 
of the passage, is evident. 

Here then we seem arrived at the true princi- 
ple of distinction in emphasis. All emphasis has 



ELOCUTION. 247 

an antithesis either expressed or understood; if 
the emphasis excludes the antithesis, the emphat- 
ic word has the falling infection ; if the emphasis 
does not exclude the antithesis, the emphatic word 
has the rising inflection. The grand distinction, 
therefore, between the two emphatic inflections is 
this ; the falling inflection affirms something in the 
emphasis, and denies what is opposed to it in the 
antithesis, while the emphasis with the rising in- 
flection, affirms something hi the emphasis, with- 
out denying what is opposed to it in the antithesis : 
the former, therefore, from its affirming and de- 
nying absolutely, may be called the strong empha- 
sis ; and the latter, from its affirming only, and 
not denying, may be called the weak emphasis. 
As a farther trial of the truth of these definitions, 
let us examine them by a few additional examples. 
When Richard the Third rejects the proposal 
of the duke of Norfolk to pardon the rebels, he 
says, 

Why that, indeed, was our sixth Harry's way, 
Which made his reign one scene of rude commotion s 
I'll be in men's despite a monarch : no, 
Let kings that fear forgive ; blows and revenge 
Forme. Richard III. Act 5, 

In this example, we find several words emphat- 
ical ; but the words despite and fear particularly 
so : these are always pronounced with the strong 
emphasis, which always adopts the falling inflec- 
tion. In the foregoing definition of this emphasis, 
it is said, that the falling inflection affirms some- 



248 ELEMENTS OF 

thing hi the emphasis, and denies what is oppo- 
sed to it in the antithesis ; and we accordingly 
find, that something is affirmed of the words des- 
pite and fear, and something is denied of the an- 
tithetic objects suggested by these words, which 
are favour and fearlessness ; for the paraphrase of 
these words, when thus emphatical, would be, Fit 
be, not in men's favour, but in their despite a ?non- 
dfch — and let not me who am fearless, but kings 
that fear, forgive : by which we perceive the 
justness of the definition ; for what is affirmed of 
the emphatic object is denied of the antithetic ob- 
ject ; agreeably to the definition of the strong em- 
phasis, or the emphasis with the falling inflection : 
another example will serve farther to illustrate the 
nature of this species of emphasis. 

When Cato is encouraging his little senate to 
hold out against Caesar to the last, he says, 

Why should Rome full a moment ere her time ? 

The emphasis, with the failing inflection on the 
word moment, which is the inflection it is always 
pronounced with, suggests an antithesis opposed 
to a moment, which antithesis is a very short time; 
and the import of this emphasis at length, would 
be equivalent to this : Why should Rome fall not 
only a little, but even a moment before her time f 
Bv which paraphrase, we see the definition of this 
emphasis again exemplified ; for something is af- 
firmed of the emphatic object, and something is 
denied of the antithetic object. 

The import of the emphasis with the rising in* 



ELOCUTION. 



249 



flection, may be exemplified by the following pas- 
sage. Horatio, in the Fair Penitent, taxing Lo- 
thario with forgery, says, 

'Twas base and poor, unworthy of a man, 
To forge a scroll so villainous and loose, 
And mark it with a noble lady's name. 

Fair Penitent, Act ii. 

The word man, in the first line of this example, 
is the emphatic object, which must necessarily 
have the rising inflection ; because this inflection 
intimates, that something is affirmed of the em- 
phatic, which is not denied of the antithetic ob- 
ject : the antithetic object to the word man, we 
may suppose to be some being of a lower order ; 
and if this emphasis were paraphrased, it would 
run thus : *Twas base and poor, unworthy of a 
man, though not unworthy of a brute. And thus 
we find, that in this emphasis, what is affirmed of 
the emphatic object is not denied of the antithetic 
object, agreeably to the definition laid down. 

In the examples which have been hitherto 
produced, the emphasis has always clearly sug- 
gested the antithesis ; and a paraphrase, 
formed by producing both the emphatic and an- 
tithetic object, has readily presented itself : but 
ihere are many instances, where, though the an- 
tithetic object is equally real, it is not so easily 
made out. In order to facilitate this operation, 
it will be necessary to observe, that the human 
feelings have recourse to the most minute dis- 
tinctions imaginable, for the sake of expressing 
those feelings with precision and force. 



250 ELEMENTS OF 

Thus when Lothario, in the Fair Penitent, 
says to Lucilla, 

I see thou hast learn'd to rail. Fair Penit. Act. i. 

The emphasis with the rising inflection on the 
word rail, does not suggest any precise antithet- 
ic object in opposition to it, but an indefinite 
something more excellent than railing, as if he 
had said, I see thou hast learn'd to rail, if thou 
hast not acquired any art more excellent than 
railing : but whether she has any such acquire- 
ment, he leaves her to judge. 

In the same manner, when Jane Shore is pro- 
testing her fidelity to Edward's issue, Gloster 
answers, 

'Tis well — we'll try the temper of your heart. 

Jane Shore, Act iv. 

The emphasis with the falling inflection on the 
word try suggests an antithesis, which makes it 
necessary to have recourse to the former speech : 
in this we find Jane Shore give proof of her fi- 
delity by protestations ; but Gloster replies, 
y Tis well, -we'll try the temper of your heart ; 
which is perfectly equivalent to saying, JYe -will 
not only prove your fidelity by talking, but by 
trial ; and as this amplifies and illustrates the 
sense of the passage, we may be sure the em- 
phasis is properly placed. 

An instance of an antithesis, perhaps, still less 
©bvious, we have in the following line of Rich. 



ELOCUTION. 



251 



ard the Third, where Prince Edward apologi- 
zes for his brother's sarcastic ridicule on the 
duke of Gloucester : 

I hope your grace knows how to bSar with him. 

Richard 111. Act in. 

The dear, in this sentence, is the emphaticul 
word, and always pronounced with the rising 
inflection ; hut though we perceive, at first hear- 
ing, the propriety of adopting this inflection, we 
cannot so readily discover the antithetic object 
intimated by it ; it is not till we consider the 
definition of the neuter verb to bear, that we 
find out what is opposed to it ; the word dear, 
in the passage alluded to, indicates supporting a 
degree of displeasure, so as to seem pleased 
when we are not really so ; the antithetic object, 

I therefore, must be, being really pleased, and the 
paraphrase intimated by this emphasis will be 
this : I hope your grace knows how to bear, 
or to seem pleased with him, though not to be 
really pleased xvith him. 

Sometimes the sense of a passage makes it 
difficult to determine whether we must use the 
emphasis with the rising or falling inflection : 
and in this case, (though it seldom happens) we 
may adopt either the one or the other indiffer- 
ently. Thus when Horatio, in the Fair Peni- 
tent, tells Calista that he came to her as a friend, 
she answers, 

You are my husband's friend, the friend of .ll'tamont ' 

The words husband 'and Altamont, in this line. 



252 



ELEMENTS OF 



are emphatical ; if they are both pronounced with 
the failing inflection, it imports an absolute de- 
nial of the antithetic object, which is the Friend- 
shfp of Horatia to her ; if we pronounce them 
with the rising inflection, it only insinuates thai 
he is not her friend : and this latter emphasis 
seems the most suitable to the situation of Calista, 
as at that time she has not so far broke terms 
with Horatio as absolutely to deny that he is her 
friend ; and, therefore, the inflection which affirms 
something in the emphasis, without denying the 
antithesis, is the inflection she ought to adopt. 

Thus have I been led insensibly by my subject 
into intricacies and distinctions, whither, per- 
haps, but few of my readers will be able to follow 
me : I might, indeed, have contented myself with 
less minuteness and precision, but the saccula- 
tion appeared too curious and useful to be slight- 
ly treated. If what has been observed of these 
emphatic inflections be true, we may take occa- 
sion to contemplate how few are the principles on 
which Divine Wisdom constructs operations of 
the greatest extent and variety : and it may be 
presumed, that by being acquainted with these 
principles, we shall be better enabled to enter in- 
to the views of Providence in the gift of speech, 
by perfecting and regulating it according to these 
views. By a knowledge of the principles of gram- 
mar, we are enabled to express our thoughts with 
greater force, precision, and perspicuity ; and it 
cannot be doubted, that a knowledge of the gram- 
mar of pronunciation, if it may be called so, will 
powerfully tend to the same useful purpose. 



ELOCUTION. X3o 



Practical System of Emphasis. 

Having endeavoured to shew the nature of 
emphasis, properly so called, and attempted to 
distinguish it into its several kinds, according to 
the inflection of voice it adopts ; having made 
some efforts to ascertain the peculiar character of 
each emphatic inflection, and by this means af- 
forded some assistance to a discovery of the true 
emphasis in doubtful cases ; it will be necessary, 
in the next place, to endeavour to reduce what has 
been said into a practical system, and to extend 
the former observations on emphatic inflection to 
the pronunciation of every different species of em- 
phasis. Hitherto we have treated chiefly of that 
emphasis, which may be called single : that is, 
either where the two emphatic words in antitfee- 
sis with each other are expressed ; or where but 
one of them is expressed, and the antithesis to it 
is implied or understood. But besides these, 
there are instances where two emphatic words are 
opposed to two others, and sometimes where 
three emphatic words are opposed to three oth- 
ers in the same sentence. Let us take a view of 
each of these different kinds of emphasis in its or- 
der. 

- ("Exercise and temperance strengthen even an indifferent coii- 
C stitution. 

2 C You were paid to fight against Alexander, and not to rail a t 
C him. 

Y 



254 



ELEMENTS OF 



a C The pleasures of the imagination are not so gross as those 
£ of sense, nor so rejined as those of the understanding. 

C Be rais'd a mortal to the sAvW. 
£ £/*<? drew an Angel down. 

In the first example, we find the emphatic won 
indifferent suggests an antithesis not expressed, 
namely, not a good constitution ; this may be call- 
ed the single emphasis implied. 

In the second example, the words fight and 
rail are in antithesis with each other, and do not 
suggest any other antithetic objects ; and this 
may be called the single emphasis expressed. 

In the next example, the emphatic words gross 
and refined are opposed to each other, and con- 
trasted with sense and understanding ; and this 
mutual correspondence and opposition of four 
parts to each other may not improperly be term- 
ed the double emphasis. 

When three antithetic objects are opposed to 
three, as in No. 4, we may call the assemblage 
the treble emphasis. 



Single Emphasis implied and expressed. 

In the single emphasis implied, we find the in- 
flections are so strictly appropriated to the nature 
of the emphasis, that using one instead of the oth- 
er would inevitably alter the sense : This has 
been abundantly proved in the preceding chap- 
ter. The Same may be observed (as we shall see 
presently) of the single emphcisis expressed ; but 



ELOCUTION. 



255 



this approbation of inflexion to sense does not 
seem to hold so strictly where the emphasis 
is double, or treble ; for here, as the antithetic 
objects are almost always expressed, and there 
is seldom any danger of a mistake in the sense, 
we shall not wonder to find harmony claim her 
indisputable rights in making this sense most 
agreeable to the ear. 

But though the inflections of the double and 
treble emphasis frequently yield to the harmony 
of arrangement, the single emphasis expressed re- 
quires its specific inflection on each part ; for in 
the second example : 

You were paid to fight against Alexander, and not to rail at 
him. 

Here, if we were to place the rising inflection on 
fight, and the falling on rail, as the harmony of 
cadence would intimate, we should soon find, 
that in the single emphasis expressed, there is as 
strict an appropriation of inflection to the sense of 
the emphasis as when but one part of the antith- 
esis is expressed in the single emphasis implied. 
As the inflections in this species of emphasis, 
therefore, are of much more importance, and 
much more difficult to settle, than those of the 
double and treble emphasis, it may not be im- 
proper, before we enter on the latter, to extend 
our speculations a little on the former. 

Whatever may be the reason why the positive 
member of a sentence should adopt the empha- 
sis with the falling inflection, and the negative 



256 



ELEMENTS OF 



member the rising ; certain it is, that this appro- 
priation of emphatic inflection, to a positive or 
negative signification, runs through the whole sys- 
tem of pronunciation. Agreeably to this arrange- 
ment, we constantly find good readers finish neg- 
ative sentences with the rising inflection, where 
ordinary readers are sure to use the falling inflec- 
tion, and to drop the voice ; and, perhaps, this dif- 
ferent pronunciation forms one of the greatest dif- 
ferences between good and bad readers : Thus, 
in the following sentence from the Oration of De- 
mosthenes on the Crown, translated by Dr. Ice- 
land : 

Observe then, iEsehines ; our ancestors, acted th«s in both these 
instances ; not that they acted for their benefactors, not that they 
saw no danger in these^peditions. Such considerations never 
could induce them to abandon those who fled to their protection. 
No, from the nobler motives of glory and renown, they devoted 
their services to the distressed. 

There are lQw good readers who will not pro- 
nounce the two first sentences of this passage so 
as to terminate them with the rising inflection ; 
And this manner of reading them we find agree- 
able to the paraphrase suggested by the falling 
inflection adopted by the positive signification of 
the last sentence ; bv which means all the sen- 
tences of this passage form parts of one thought, 
anel may be reduced to the definition of the em- 
phasis with the falling inflection ; as, They act- 
ed from the nobler motives of glory and re?iown+ 
and not infrior motives. 

Wherever, therefore, a negative sentence, or 



ELOCUTION. 257 

member of a sentence, is in opposition to a posi- 
tive sentence, or member of a sentence, we find it 
usually adopt the rising inflection : And often 
where there is no correspondent positive member 
or sentence expressed, if the negative member 
or sentence would admit of a positive, and that the 
sense of this positive is agreeable to the general 
tenor of the composition ; in this case, likewise, 
we find the negative member or sentence adopt 
the rising inflection. Thus, in the same oration, 
Demosthenes, speaking of the public works he 
had erected, says, 

As to those public works, so much the object of your ridicule, 
they, undoubtedly, demand a due share of honour and applause ; 
but I rate them far beneath the great merit of my administration. 
It is not with stones nor bricks that I' have fortified the city. It is 
not from words like these that 1' derire my reputation. Would you 
know my' methods of fortifying ? Examine, and you will find them 
in the arms, the towns, the territories, the harbours I have secured 
the navies, the troops, the armies I have raised. 

The two middle negative sentences of this pas- 
sage have not any correspondent positive senten- 
ces preceding or following them ; but the rising 
inflection on these sentences suggest a meaning 
so compatible with the mind of the speaker, that 
we cannot doubt of its being the true one ; for 
it is equivalent to saying, It is not with works 
like these that 1' have fortified the city, but with 
something much biter. This will receive a far- 
ther illustration from another passage of the same 
orator. 

For if you now pronounce, that, as my public conduct hath not 
oeem right, Ctesiphon must stand condemned, it must be thought 

Y 2 



- JO ELEMENTS OF 

that yourselves have r-.c't d wronj;, not that you owe your present 
state to the caprice of fortune. I3ut it cannot he. No, my coun- 
trymen ! It cannot he jou hive acted wrong*, in encountering dan- 
ger hravely, for the liberty and safety of all Greece. No ! by those 
generous souls of ancient tiir.es, who were exposed at Marathon ! 
By those who stood arrayed at Plataca ! By those who encounter- 
ed the Persian fleet at Salamis! who fought at Artemisium ! By 
all those illustrious sons of Athens, whose remains he deposited in 
the public monuments ! AH of whom received the same honoura- 
ble interment from their country : Not those only who prevailed, 
not those only who were victorious. And with reason. What was 
ihe part of gallant men they all performed ; their success was such 
us the supreme director of the world dispensed to each. 

The two last members of the first sentence we 
find naturally adopt their specific inflections ; 
that is, the positive member, the falling on wrong, 
and the negative the rising on fortune. The suc- 
ceeding sentence has a negation in it that suits 
the rising inflection much better than the falling, 
and therefore Greece has very properly the rising 
inflection ; and the latter members, not those only 
xv 'ho prevailed, not those only who were victorious, 
will not admit of the falling inflection without an 
evident prejudice to the sense. 

Plausible, however, as this doctrine may ap- 
pear, it is not pretended that it is universally true. 
It is certain, that a negative member of a sen- 
tence may often have the falling, and a positive 
member the rising inflection : But it is as certain, 
that where the sentence is so constructed as to 
require the rising inflection on the negative, and 
the falling on the positive part of the sentence, 
there is always both greater force and harmony. 

From these observations, therefore, we may 
conclude, that in the single emphasis where har- 



ELOCUTION. 



259 



mony is not grossly violated, sense ought always 
to predominate : And hence will arise this gener- 
al rule : Whenever a sentence is composed of a 
positive and negative part, if this positive and neg- 
ative imports that something is affirmed of one of 
the things which is denied of the other, the positive 
must have the falling, and the .negative the rising 
infection. 

Small as the extent of this rule is, it appears 
to throw a considerable light on the doctrine of 
emphasis ; and particularly where the sense of a 
passage is not very obvious, and where harmony 
admits of a diversity of inflection. Let us en- 
deavour to reduce these speculations to practice. 
In a passage of Milton's Paradise Lost, the angel, 
speaking of Nimrod, says, 

Hunting (and men, not beasts, shall be his game ) 

P. L. B. xii. 

Every ear agrees to lay the emphasis with the fal* 
ling inflection on men, and the emphasis with the 
rising inflection on beasts, agreeably to the rule 
just laid down ; but when, in the same author, we 
meet with a description of Satan's coming down 
to be revenged on men in these words, — 

For now 
Satan, now first inflam'd with rage, came down ; 
The tempter, ere th' accuser oT mankind, 
To wreck on innocent frail man his loss 
Of that first battle, and his flight to hell. P. L. B. iv. 

In the third line of this passage we find no such 
certainty in adapting a different inflection to the 



2m 



ELEMENTS OP 






two emphatic words tempter and accuser, as in 
the former instance. 

A little reflection, however, obliges us to give 
the falling inflection to tempter, and the rising to 
accuser ; but the reason of this disposition does 
not readily occur. A little farther reflection will 
induce us to resolve this arrangement of inflection 
into the foregoing rule. For the word ere, sig- 
nifying before, relates to the word now, in the for* 
mer line ; and the paraphrase of this emphasis is, 
The tempter now, at this time, not the accuser, as 
he was afte?'wards ; whereas a transposition of 
emphatic inflection, that is, the rising inflection 
on tempter, and the falling on accuser, would in- 
fallibly suggest this sense — The tempter, not only 
before he was something more inimical than accu- 
ser, but before he was even the accuser of mankind. 
This paraphrase agrees so ill with sense of the pas- 
sage, and the former so well, that we need not 
hesitate a moment about the true emphasis. 

The reason for placing the emphasis with the 
rising inflection on accuser, and that with the 
falling on tempter, seems to arise from the same 
principle as that of placing the emphasis with 
the falling inflection on the positive, and that 
with the rising inflection on the negative part of 
a sentence ; for the priority of one thing to an- 
other is reducible to its being that thing at that 
time, and not another ^tiling ; and the preferable- 
ness of one thing to another is equal to the 
choice being fixed on one thing and not another. 
Thus the following phrase: "I would rather 



I 



ELOCUTION. 



261 



Ai teach the art of poisoning than that of sophistry," 
may be reduced to this : If I must teach one of 
these arts, I will teach poisoning, and not sophis- 
try. But if one of these parts of the antithesis 
admits of emphasis, that is, if it appears to he the 
intention of the speaker not to say merely that 
one thing is prior or preferable to another, but 
that one of these things, in the strictest sense of 
the word, and opposed to something of smaller 
import, is prior or preferable to another ; or, if 
one of these things is said to be prior or prefer- 
able to another thing, taken in its strictest sense, 
and opposed to some other thing of less impor- 
tance ; in this case, I say, the emphasis with the 
falling inflection is on that part of the antithesis 
which intimates something of more importance 
than is simply expressed. Thus, in the follow- 
ing sentence, 

I would die sooner than mention it. 

If we mean only to declare our choice between 
dying and mentioning, the falling inflection must 
be placed, on die, as this is the part of the sentence 
that corresponds to the positive part of the sen- 
tence that corresponds to the positive part of the 
declaration : If we would express this choice with 
emphasis, so as to show that we would not only 
undergo great difficulties, but that we would 
even die sooner than mention it, the same inflection 
is preserved on the same word, with a small addi- 
tion of emphatic force: If it were understood 
that we would die sooner than mention it, but, 
for fear mention should be taken in too large a 



262 



ELEMENTS OF 



sense, we wish to express a resolution of dying 
before we would discover the smallest part of it ; 
in this case, I say, we should lay the strong em- 
phasis and falling inflection on mention, which 
would intimate a new antithesis, and be equiva- 
lent to saying, J would not only die before I 
would declare or relate it, but even before I 
would mention it ; and here we find the word die 
assume the weak emphasis and the rising inflec- 
tion, as the question in this case is not so much 
about dying as about the degree of mention we 
are resolved not to make. 

But if both parts of the comparison be under- 
stood, and therefore to be taken simply and 
without emphasis, and it is the intention of the 
speaker to declare, with emphasis, the priority 
or preferableness only : in this case, the compar- 
ative word has the strong emphasis and falling in- 
flection, and the word compared has the weak 
emphasis 'and rising inflection. Thus Gay, in 
his fable of the Elephant and bookseller, makes 
the latter offer pay to the former for writing sat- 
ire ; and in order to show there is no necessity to 
hire beasts to prey on men, while men, by envy, 
prey on each other, says, 

Envy's a sharper spur than pay. 

Here the word sharper has the strong emphasis 
and falling inflection, as envy is not said, with 
emphasis, to be a sharper spur than pay ; for en- 
vy is not here opposed to any other disposi- 



ELOCUTION. 



263 



tion, or to a disposition less malevolent ; nor is 
pay opposed to any other, or to a less reward ; 
but the emphasis is confined to the comparative 
word sharper ; as if he had said, Envy is not 
only a spur equally sharp, but sharper than pay. 
On these principles we may account for the 
emphasis which a good actor always places on 
the first part of the antithesis in the following 
examples : 

Ham. What look'd he frowning'ly ? 

Hor. A countenance mQre in sorrow than in anger. Shaks* 

It is a custom 
More honoured in the breach than the observance. Ibid* 

He is more knave than fool. Proverbial phrase. 

Oh' ! the blood more stirs, 
To rouse a lion than to start a hare. 

Shahs. Hen. IV. Part I. Act i. 

This last example is the parallel of that from 
Gay ; and it is presumed, that a judicious actor 
would lay the great stress, that is, the emphasis 
with the falling inflection, on the word more, and 
give the words lion and hare the weak emphasis 
and rising inflection. For Hotspur, in this pas- 
sage, is talking of dangers, and is not so much 
comparing them as the advantages that arise from 
them ; and the paraphrase of this emphasis would 
be, the resistance we make to great and small 
danger is not equal ; a great danger stirs th0 
blood much more than a small one. 

This paraphrasing or drawing out the signifi- 
cation of emphatic words seems the best guide 






264 ELEMENTS OF 

where the sense is not quite obvious, and will 
lead us to decide in many doubtful cases, where 
nothing but the taste of the reader is commonly 
appealed to. To illustrate this still farther, let 
us examine a line in Otway's Venice Preserv- 
ed, where Pierre, expatiating on the wretched 
state of Venice, says, 

Justice is lame as well as blind among us. 

The phrase, as well as, signifies nothing more 
than parity, and is nearly similar in sense to the 
conjunction arid; if, therefore, we lay die falling 
inflection on blind, it would be equivalent to say- 
ing, Justice is not only lame, but blind : and this 
is a piece of information we did not want : For 
justice is always supposed to be blind. But the 
falling inflection on lame, and the rising on blind, 
is equivalent to saying, Justice is not only blind, 
as she is every where else, but in Venice she is 
lame as well as blind. And that this is the true 
meaning of the passage, cannot be doubted. If 
the poet had written the line in this manner : 

Justice is as lame as she is blind among us : 

The falling inflection placed on blind, would im- 
ply, that Justice is not only very lame, but even 
as lame as she is blind. Thus we see the sense 
varies with the different emphasis we adopt, and 
is never fully and forcibly displayed without the 
kind of emphasis that is peculiarly suited to it. 
But it may be asked, since the sense must be 



ELOCUTION. 



265 



fully conceived before we can adapt the emphasis 
to the words, of what use is it to ring all these 
changes upon the different emphases, when, 
though we conceive them ever so distinctly, they 
will only suggest one particular sense, but will ne^ 
ver tell us which we shall adopt as most suitable 
to the meaning of the author. To this it may 
be answered, that whatever tends to show the 
different import of each kind of emphasis, enables 
us the better to judge of the suitableness or un- 
suitableness of each emphasis to the sense. This 
unfolding and displaying of what is suggested by 
each emphasis is that assistance to the under- 
standing which spectacles are to the eye : mag- 
nifying glasses are not calculated for those whose 
powers of sight are so strong and clear as to have 
no need of them, nor for those who have no sight 
jat all ; but for such as wish to view objects dis- 
tinctly, and with less labour than without this as- 
sistance. Where the sense is clear, we need no 
such assistance ; but where the sense is obscure 
and dubious, it can scarcely be doubted that dis- 
playing and unfolding it by such paraphrases as 
are suggested by the application of different 
kinds of emphasis, will tend greatly to take away 
the ambiguity, will show which kind of empha- 
sis is most suitable to the sense, and enable us to 
pronounce with greater confidence and security. 
From what has been said of the nature of em- 
phasis, it will evidently follow, that pronunciation 
is a kind of supplement to written language. As 



266 



ELEMENTS OF 



vivacity and force depend greatly on brevity, 
and brevity borders naturally on obscurity ; in or- 
der to preserve the meaning without losing the 
force, pronunciation interposes, and, as it were, 
supplies the ellipsis in the written words, by a 
stress and inflection of voice, which^imply what 
belongs to the sense, but which is not sufficient- 
ly obvious without oral utterance. Hence we 
may conclude, that language is never perfect till 
it is delivered. 

A just pronunciation brings to view its latent 
and elliptical senses, without clogging it with 
repetitions which would retard its communica- 
tion and enfeeble its strength. Thus by pro- 
nouncing the following sentence : Exercise and 
temperance strengthen an indifferent constitution : 
By pronouncing this sentence, I say, with the fal- 
ling inflection on the word indifferent, I convey 
as much to the understanding as if 1 had said, Ex- 
ercise and temperance strengthen not only a com- 
mon constitution, but even an %ndifferent constitu- 
tion. And the inferiority of the latter sentence, 
from tautology and pleonastic tardiness, suffi- 
ciently shows the necessity of a just pronuncia- 
tion to supply the ellipses of written language. 

Double Emphasis. 

The double emphasis, as we have already obser- 
ved in page 254, seems most frequently to be 
regulated by the harmony of the sentence ; for 
as it is a general rule, that the rising inflection 



ELOCUTION. 



267 



must take place in the middle of such a sentence* 
the second branch of the first member must neces- 
sarily have the rising inflection, and the rest of the 
branches must have such an emphasis and inflec- 
tion as contribute most to the harmony of the 
period. With this general rule, that the two 
parts of the antithesis have each of them the two 
different inflections, arranged in an opposite or- 
der ; that is, as two inflections in the same mem- 
ber cannot be alike, if the second branch of the 
first member has the rising, the first branch must, 
of course, have the falling inflection; and as the 
last branch of the second member forms the peri- 
od, and therefore requires the falling, the first 
branch of this member must necessarily have 
the rising inflection ; this is the arrangement of 
inflection which seems universally adopted by 
the ear, as it will be found, upon experiment, no 
other is so various and musical. An example 
will soon convince us of tins : 

The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
not so grdas as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the under- 
standing. Sped. No. 411, 

In this example, the ear perceives the necessity 
of adopting the rising inflection on the word sense; 
and, for the sake of variety, lays the failing Inflec- 
tion on gross ; and, by the same anticipation, per- 
ceiving the period must have the falling inflec- 
tion on imagination, adopts the rising inflection 
on refined; by these means, the greatest variety 
is obtained, and the sense inviolably preserved ; 



268 



ELEMENTS OF 



for if we were to repeat this passage with contra- 
ry inflections on the first member, we should soon 
perceive the impropriety : 

. The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are 
not so gross as those ofsaise, nor so refined as those of the under- 



Here we perceive the whole sentence is monoto- 
nous, by adopting the same inflections in the 
same order on the first and last members ; and the 
sense is manifestly injured by laying the strong 
emphasis and falling inflection in the middle of 
the sentence, contrary to the general rule. 

The nature of the double emphasis expressed \ 
respecting the inflection of voice which each an- 
tithetic part adopts rather in compliance with the 
ear than for the purpose of enforcing the sense, 
will be farther illustrated by the treble emphasis* 



Treble Emphasis. 

The treble emphasis, where all the parts are ex- 
pressed, occurs but seldom ; and when it does, 
there is seldom any difficulty in pronouncing it ; 
for as «ach part has its correspondent part expres- 
sed, there is scarcely any necessity to enforce one 
more than the other, and they easily fall into a 
just and harmonious arrangement. Thus in the 
following lines : 






ELOCUTION. 

Sh£ in her girls again is courted; 
J* go a -wooing with ray 63jys : 



269 



Every emphatical word adopts that inflection 
which the harmony of the verse would necessarily 
require, if there were not an emphatical word in 
the whole couplet. This arrangement of em- 
phatic inflections almost always takes place when 
every part of the treble emphasis is expressed; 
but when the double emphasis has two of its parts 
so emphatical as to imply two antithetic objects 
not expressed, and so to form a treble emphasis 
implied only ; in this case, I say, it is not so ea- 
sily determined how we are to place the emphatic 
inflections. Thus in. the following passage of 
Milton, (Paradise Lost, Book I. v. 262.^ 

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven : 

The words heaven and hell, in the last line, be- 
sides the common antithesis which they form to 
each other, seem to have each of them an antithet- 
ic object distinct and separate, and so to form a 
treble emphasis, instead of a double one ; for the 
emphasis with the falling inflection on hell^ 
seems to intimate, that to reign is so desirable, 
that it is better to reign, not only where it is at- 
tended with its usual cares, but even in hell, 
where it is attended with torments ; and the same 
emphatic inflection on heaven implies, that servi- 
tude is not only detestable where it has its usual 

Z2 






270 ELEMENTS OF 

inconveniences, but even in heaven, where it is 
attended with pleasures. These paraphrases, 
implied by the emphasis with the falling inflec- 
tion, seem not only to agree with the sense of the 
author, but necessarily to belong to it ; and yet 
so agreeable is a contrary arrangement of inflec- 
tion to the ear, that we seldom find this passage 
pronounced in this manner. 

Let a whole assembly be desired to read these 
lines in Milton, and a single person will scarcely 
be found whose ear will not draw him into the 
common arrangement of emphatic inflection, 
though contrary to the strongest sense of the 
passage : 

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to rtign in kill than serve in heaven. 

Most readers, I say, in repeating these lines, 
will pronounce the last line as it is marked ; that 
is, they will lay the falling inflection on reign, 
and the rising inflection on hell, in order to diver- 
sify it from two concluding branches of the an- 
tithesis ; that is, the line will be exactly the same 
with respect to inflection and emphasis, as the 
following : 

Not so gross as those of sense, nor so refined as those of the un- 
derstanding. 

But if we attend to the sense of Milton, we shall 
find that the word hell, though in the middle of 
the antithesis, seems necessarily to require the 



ELOCUTION. 



271 



falling inflection ; for, as we 'have observed, Sa- 
tan's ambition to reign is so great, that he wishes 
to reign even in hell; that is, not where reigning 
has its usual cares attending it, but even in hell, 
where it is accompanied with torments suited to 
his superior wickedness. If we wish to convey 
this sense strongly, which the words of the au • 
thor will certainly admit of, we must necessari- 
ly place the emphasis with the falling inflection 
on the word hell, and neglect the music of the 
line, which would require another arrangement : 
For if it is an invariable maxim, that where force 
and harmony are inconsistent, the preference 
must be given to the former ; without all ques- 
tion, this passage ought to be read, not as it com- 
monly is, in this manner ; 

*To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to rtign in MIL than serve in heaifrc. 

But in this : 

To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ; 
Better to r&ign in hell than servs in heav'n. 

An emphasis of exactly the same kind is 
found in a saying of Julius Caesar, who, when 
he was passing through an obscure village in 
GaiiL made use of these words : 



* Mr. Garrick, upon being asked to read these lines, repeated 
them at first in the former mode of placing the emphatic inflec* 
turns ; but, upon re-considering them, approved of the latter. 



272 



ELEMENTS OF 






I would rather be the fir at man in that village than the tecmd in 
Home. 

The general harmony of pronunciation invaria- 
bly inclines us, at the first reading of this pas- 
sage, to lay the emphasis with the falling inflec- 
tion on first ; that with the rising on village ; the 
rising likewise on second, and the falling on 
Rome ; but if we wish strongly to enforce the 
sense of the words, we must necessarily lay the ri- 
sing inflection on first, and the falling on village, 
in the following manner : 

I would rather be the first man in that village than the *£c»thI 
In Rime. 

For in this pronunciation we strongly enforce 
the desire he had for superiority, by making him 
prefer it, not only in a commonplace, but even in 
that village, to inferiority, even in Rome. If this 
latter mode of reading this sentence seems too 
turgid and emphatic for the historic style, what 
are we to think of that general rule that seems 
Universally to be acknowledged by all readers ; 
.namely, that the sense of an author ought always 
to be enforced to the utmost, let the harmony be 
what it w^ill ? This maxim, however, I take to 
he rashly adopted ; for, as we have before obser- 
%'ed, reading seems to be a compromise between 
the rights of sense and sound. Obscurity is the 
greatest possible defect in reading ; and no har- 
mony whatever will make amends for it : But 
if the sense of a passage be sufficiently clear, it 
seems no infringement on the rights of the un- 



ELOCUTION. ^73 

derstanding to give this sufficiently clear sense an 
harmonious utterance. In this case, it is, perhaps, 
necessary to distinguish between clear sense and 
strong sense : the first is that which puts the au- 
thor's meaning beyond the possibility of mistake ; 
he latter, as it were, adds something to it, and 
places the sense in such a point of view as to give 
it, though not a different, yet a greater force 
than what the words immediately suggest ; but 
if this additional force becomes harsh, quaint, or 
affected, the ear claims her rights in favor of har- 
mony ; and good taste will always admit her 
claim, when the rights of the understanding are 
sufficiently secured. 

Thus in that noble sentiment of Cato : 

A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty 
Is worth a whole eternity in bondage. 

To pronounce this passage with the greatest 
force, we ought to lay the emphasis with the fal- 
ling inflection on eternity, as this would suggest 
a paraphrase perfectly illustrative of the sense, 
which is, that a day or an hour of virtuous liberty 
is not only worth more than the longest finite du- 
ration in bondage, but even a whole eternity. 
This pronunciation, however, would necessarily 
give the rising inflection to bondage, which woiild 
conclude the passage so inharmoniously, that the 
ear finds itself obliged to neglect this so forcible 
expression, and content itself with placing the 
rising inflection on eternity, for the sake of the 
harmony of the cadence : and as the plain import 



274 



ELEMENTS OF 



of the word eternity is sufficiently strong and 
emphatical, sense is no great loser by the sacri- 
fice : If, however, the thought could have been 
so disposed as to have made a word, so suscept- 
ible of force as eternity, adopt the falling inflec- 
tion and conclude the line, the expression, it is 
presumed, would have been still stronger. Let 
us suppose, for instance, the two last lines had 
stood thus : 

A day, an hour, in virtuoii9 liberty 
Outweighs, in bondage, an eternity : 

I do not contend that this alteration is not great- 
ly inferior to the original in point of composition, 
from the necessity of adopting words less suita- 
ble ; but, I think, I may appeal to the ear of ev- 
ery critical speaker for the superiority of the lat- 
ter, with respect t© the force and harmony of pro- 
nunciation. In the same manner it may be ob- 
served, that if the words in Milton were transpo- 
sed as in the following line, 

Better in hill to rtign, than serve in heav'n. 

The falling inflection on hell, and the rising on 
reign, would preserve both the force and harmo- 
ny ; but I am far from presuming to judge 
whether the line would be better by this altera- 
tion. The same may be observed of the trans- 
position of the saying of Caesar : 

In that village I would rather be the first man, than the ^cond 
in Rome 



ELOCUTION. 



275 



By this arrangement we see the strongly emphat- 
ic words, which require the falling inflection, are 
in the beginning and end of the sentence, and 
the two emphatic words that require the rising 
inflection in the middle ; and, consequently, the 
inflections on the two first and two last emphatic 
words are in a different order. 

But if a treble emphasis implied will often, 
for the sake of harmony, neglect such an empha- 
sis as produces the greatest force, there is much 
greater necessity for this sacrifice to sound 
where every part of the treble emphasis is ex- 
pressed. Thus, in the following lines : 

He raised a mortal to the skies, 
She drew an angel ddvm. 

If, for the sake of showing that Timotheus did 
not only raise a mortal very high, but even to 
the skies ; if, I say, for the sake of intimating 
this sense, we lay the emphasis with the falling 
inflection on skies, we shall ruin the harmony of 
the couplet : The same may be observed if we 
lay the same emphasis on angel ; for though this 
would intimate that St. Cecilia did not draw 
down a common being, but even an angel, j$l* 
this intimation would make no amends for the, 
quaintness and discord this inflection would .oc- 
casion ; but if these lines had been so construct- 
ed as to admit of the emphasis with the falling 
inflection on these words, perhaps we should n©£ 
have found either sense or harmony the worse 
for it. 



276 ELEMENTS OF 

Be to the skies a mortal raised 
An angel she drew dcvtn. 

Thus we perceive there are some things clear 
and decided, others ambiguous and indetermi- 
nate : The best decision in the latter case is, to 
observe the pronunciation of the bes*: readers 
and speakers, and to mark it by the inflections 
which ars here made use of. A notation of this 
kind, will enable us to collect examples of differ- 
ent modes of pronunciation, and to form an 
opinion from examples of the best authority : by 
this means w r e shall be able to give some stabili- 
ty to those sounds which have hitherto been 
thought too fleeting and evanescent for retros. 
pection. 



General Emphasis. 

Hitherto emphasis has been considered as ap- 
propriated to a particular word in a sentence, 
the peculiar sense of which demanded an in- 
crease of force, and an inflection correspondent 
to that sense ; we shall now endeavour to throw 
some light upon that emphatic force, which, 
when the composition is very animated, and ap- 
proaches to a close, we often lay upon several 
w r ords in succession : This successive emphat- 
ic force does not, like the former, suggest any 
particular meaning excluded by it, and there- 
fore may not improperly be called a general em- 



ELOCUTION, &77 

phasis. This emphasis is not so much regula- 
ted by the sense of the author as by the taste and 
feelings of the reader, and therefore does not ad- 
mit of any certain rule ; but as it is very strong 
and energetic when it is happily applied, it may 
not be useless to endeavour to give such rules as 
will naturally arise from a few examples. 

When Lucius in Cato seems to have exhaust- 
ed every topic in favour of giving up a hopeless 
war and submitting to Cassar, he concludes with 
this emphatic period : 

What men could do, 
Is done already : Heav'n and earth will witness, 
I'f Rome must fall, that we are innocent. 

The common manner of pronouncing this last 
line is to lay an emphasis with the rising inflec- 
tion on the word must, which is certainly a very 
just one, and may be called the particular empha- 
sis ; but if we were to place an emphasis on each 
of the four words, f R me m st f 11 ; that 
is, the emphasis with the rising inflection on ij\ 
that with the falling on Rome and must, and the 
rising onfall ; if these emphases, I say, are pro- 
nounced with a distinct pause after each, it is 
inconceivable the force that will be given to 
to these few words. 

In the same manner, when Demosthenes is 
describing the former helpless state of Athens, he 
says, 

There was a time, then, my fellow-citizens, when the Lacede- 

A a 



278 



ELEMENTS OF 



monians were sovereign masters both by sea and land; when 
'heir troops and forts surrounded the entire circuit of Attica; 
when they possessed Eubce, Tanagra, the whole Barman district, 
Megara, JEgina, Cleor.e, and the other islands ; while this state 
bad not o;>e ship, ?i:t cue wall. 

The general mode of pronouncing the last 
member of this sentence is, to lay an emphasis 
on the last word, wall ; This is unquestionably 
proper ; but if we lay an emphasis on the three 
last words, that is, the falling on not, the rising 
on one, and the falling on wall, and pause very 
distinctly between each, we shall be at no loss to 
decide on the superiority of this general empha- 
sis. We; have another instance of the force of 
this general emphasis, in that beautiful climax of 
Zanga, in the tragedy of the Revenge : 

That's truly great ! what think you 'twas set up 
The Greek and Roman name in such a lustre, 
But doing right in stern despite of nature, 
Shutting their ears to all her little cries, 
When great august and godlike justice call'i 
At Aulis one pour'd cut a daughter's life, 
And gain'd more glory than by all his wars ; 
Another slew a sister in just rage ; 
A third, the theme of all succeeding times, 
Gave to the cruel axe a darling son : 
Nay more, for justice some devote themselves, 
As he at Carthage, an immortal name ! 
Yet there is one step left above them all, 
. Above their history, above their fable ; 
A wife, bride, mistress,, unsnjcyed, 
Do that, and tread upon the Greek and Roman glory. 

Jlct'w. Scene last. 

In pronouncing this passage, we shall find the 
generality of readers content themselves with 
laying an emphasis upon the word one in the 



ELOCUTION, 



79 



thirteenth line, and pronounce the two- succeed- 
ing words step and left without any particular 
force ; but if we give emphatic force to each of 
these three words, and at the same time pause 
considerably after every word, we shall find the 
whole line glow with meaning and energy : for 
though pronouncing the word one with the em- 
phasis and rising inflection, and the succeeding 
words step and left with the same inflection, 
without emphasis, would undoubtedly bring out 
the author's sense ; yet pronouncing ( ne and sttp 
both with emphasis and the falling inflection, 
seems to snateh a grace beyond the reach of art, 
and fall in with the enthusiasm of the poet. The 
emphasis with the falling infection and increasing 
force, on the four successive words wfe, brkk\ 
m stress, unenj yeel, in the last line but one, 
crowns the whole climax with suitable force and 
harmony. 

But though general emphasis may, at 'first 
sight, seem to be an exception to the general 
rule, yet, upon a nearer inspection, it willjje 
found strictly conformable to it. Emphasis has 
been defined to be another word for opposition 
or contradistinction ; now where, may be asked, 
is the opposition or contradistinction to these 
words if and Rome and fall in the sentence, 

Heav'n and earth will witness, 
If Rome must fall, that we are innocent ? 

It may be answered, that the mind, in endeav- 



^80 ELEMENTS OF 



Gunng to express things strongly, seems to have 
recourse to a redundancy of sound as well as of 
words ; the adjective own and the substantive 
self are superfluous words, if we regard only 
their mere grammatical import. For the senten- 
ces, this book is mine, and I wrote it, literally sig- 
nify as much as this book is my own, and I wrote 
it niygelf; hut th- sentences may be said to 

be emphatical, and the former not. To the same 
end our language has adopted an auxiliary verb, 
to express action or passion with emphasis, in a 
shorter way than perhaps in any o 1 her tongue. 
Thus, when Othello says to Desdemona — 

Perdition catch ray soul but I do love thee — 

it is equivalent to saying, I actually and really love 
thee, — in contradistinction to t lit appearance of 
love, which so often supplies the place of the real- 
ity : and this seems to lead us to the latent antithe- 
sis of the general emphasis, which is, the appear- 
ance, as distinguished from the reality or the 
similitude, from the identity ; therefore, 

ihough the words if Rome, and fall, taken sepa- 
rately, have no direct antithetic ideas, yet, when 
united together by successive emphases, they im- 
ply a reality and identity^ of situation in opposi- 
tion to every possible contrary situation, which 
contrary situation becomes the antithetic object 
of the emphatic words, and thus brings the gen- 
eral emphasis under the same definition as par- 
ticular emphasis, and shows that both are but 



ELOCUTION. 



281 



other words for opposition, contradistinction, or 
contrast. 

From this view of emphasis, we may perceive 
the propriety of laying a stress upon seme Gf the 
most insignificant words when the language is 
impassioned, in order to create a general force, 
which sufficiently justifies the seeming impro- 
priety. Thus, in the following sentence — The 
very man whom he had loaded with favours was 
the first to accuse him— 2*. stress upon the word 
man will give considerable force to the sentence 
■ — the very man, &c. If to the stress on this 
word we give one to the word very, the force 
will be considerably increased — the very man, 
&c. But if to these words we unite a stress on 
the word the, the emphasis will then attain its 
utmost pitch and be emphatic, as it may be 
called, in the superlative degree — the very man, 
&c. And this general emphasis, it may be ob- 
served, has identity for its object, the antithesis 
to which is appearance, similitude, or the least 
possible diversity. 



Intermediate or Elliptical Member. 

It now remains to say something of an em- 
phatic circumstance, which, though not mention- 
ed by any of our writers on the subject, seems 
of the utmost importance to an accurate idea of 
pronunciation. 

Aa 2 



282 ELEMENTS OF 

It has been already observed, that emphatic 
force is relative : It may be likewise observed, 
that it is not relative only with respect to the in* 
ferior force which is given to the unemphatic 
words ; it is relative, also, with respect to the 
inflection on those words that are not emphatic- 
al ; that is, emphasis derives as much force from 
pronouncing those words which are not ernphat- 
ical with a peculiar inflection, as it does from 
pronouncing the, emphatic words themselves with 
a suitable inflection and greater force. Let us 
endeavour to illustrate this by an example : 

Must we, in your person cro-un the author of the public car 
lamities, or must we destroy him ? 

*&schines against Demostlienes. 

Here, I say, in order to preserve to the two em- 
phatical words, crown and destroy, that force 
which the contrast demands, we must necessari- 
ly pronounce the intermediate member, the au- 
thor of the public calamities, with the rising in- 
flection, like crown, but in a feebler, though 
higher tone of voice : This mode of pronuncia- 
tion places the opposite parts in full view, which 
would be necessarily obscured, if the words au- 
thor of the public calamities had the same portion 
of force and variety as the rest ; so that this 
member, which may not improperly be called 
the elliptical member, has exactly that inflection 
and that feebleness which it would have, if it had 
been repeated, at the end of the sentence, in this 
manner : 



ELOCUTION- 



23-3 



Must we, in your person, crown the author of the public calam- 
ities ? or must we destroy the author of the public calamities ? 

This will be farther illustrated by another ex 
ample : 

It is not he who hath strengthened our fortifications, who hath, 
digged our intrenchments, who hath disturbed the tombs of our 
ancestors, that should demand the honours of a patriot minister, 
but he who hath procured some intrinsic services to the State. 

Here the intermediate member, that should de- 
mand the honours of a patriot minister, which 
agrees both with the positive and negative part of 
the sentence, must be pronounced in subordina- 
tion to the word ancestors ; that is, as this word 
has the emphasis with the rising inflection, ac- 
cording to the general rule, the intermediate 
member must have the rising inflection likewise, 
in a higher and feebler tone of voice, and without 
any peculiar force upon any of the words. 

Another example will render this rule still 
clearer : 

A good man will love himself too well to lose an estate by 
gambling, and his neighbour too well to win one. 

In this sentence, as in the two former, there are 
two principal constructive parts ; and between 
these parts there is a member which relates to 
both, and must be pronounced in subordination 
to both ,else the force of each will be lost. This 
member is, an estate by gaming ; the first prin- 
cipal constructive part of this sentence ends with 
the emphatic word lose; and as its connexion 
with the latter constructive part necessarily 



284 ELEMENTS OF 

requires that it should be pronounced with the 
rising inflection, every word of the intermediate 
member which follows it must be pronounced 
with the rising inflection likewise : for if any 
emphasis or variety of inflection be given to this 
member, it will infallibly deprive the correspond- 
ent antithetic words, himself, lose, neighbour, and 
win, of all their force and harmony. Every 
word of this middle member, therefore, must be 
- pronounced with the rising inflection, in a some- 
what higher tone than the word lose, and nearly 
approaching a monotone. On the contrary, if 
we were to place this member at the end of the 
sentence, in this manner, 

A good man will love himself too well to lose, and his neigh- 
bour too well to win, an estate by gaming — 

In this arrangement, in order to give force and 
variety to the correspondent emphatic words, the 
same inflections must take place as before ; that 
is, himself, must have the falling, lose the rising, 
neighbour the rising, and win the falling inflec- 
tion : And to preserve this order, which can alone 
give the sentence its due precision, the last mem- 
ber, an estate by gaming, must be pronounced 
with the same inflection as the word win, but in 
a lower tone of voice, and approaching to a mo- 
notone ; for if any force or variety is given to 
these words, it must necessarily be at the ex- 
pence of those that arc alone entitled to it. The 
bad effect, indeed, of pronouncing so many 
words at the end of a sentence in so low and fee- 



ELOCUTION. 



285 



ble a tone, is apt to invite the ear to a different 
pronunciation at first ; but a moment's reflection 
on the sense will induce us rather to dispense 
with a want of sound than of meaning. The 
first of these forms of arranging the words is 
indisputably the best ; and writers would do 
well to make it a rule in composition, never to 
ilnish a sentence with a member that relates to 
each part of a preceding antithesis ; a neglect of 
this rule occasions many uncouth sentences 
even in our best authors. 

Mr. Addison, speaking of the power of the 
imagination, says, 

It would be in vain to inquire whether the power of imagining 
things strongly proceeds from any greater perfection in the soul, 
or from any nicer texture in the brain of one man than of another. 

Spectator, No. 417". 

In this sentence, in order to present each part of 
the antithesis, soul and brain, clearly and precise- 
ly to the mind, it will be necessary to confine 
the emphatic force to these words alone ; and 
this can be done no other way than by laying the 
rising inflection on soul, and the falling on brain, 
and pronouncing the last member, of one. man 
than of another, with the same inflection as brain. 
but in a lower and almost monotonous tone of 
voice ; this will necessarily give an uncouthness 
to the sound of the sentence, but is absolutely 
necessary to give the sense of it strongly and 
clearly. 

It is true, that by this mode of pronunciation 



286 



ELEMENTS OF 



the intermediate member is presented less clear- 
ly to the mind ; but when we consider that the 
sense of it is nearly anticipated by the compara- 
tive greater and nicer, we shall, with less reluct- 
ance, give it up to the principal emphatic words, 
soul and brain. 

It must not be dissembled, however, that if 
this intermediate member contains an emphatical 
word, or extends to any length, it will be neces- 
sary to consider it as an essential member of the 
sentence, and to pronounce it with emphasis and 
variety. Thus, if the sentence just quoted had 
been constructed in this manner : 

A good man will love himself too well to lose, and his neigh" 
kourtoo well to win, a very considerable sum by gaming 1 . 

If, in reading this sentence, we were to place 
the emphasis with the rising inflection on lose, 
and the falling on win, and were to pronounce 
the rest of the sentence in a low monotonous tone 
of voice, in the same manner as when it contain- 
ed but half the number of syllables, we should he 
both obscure and discordant ; but as the last 
member is lengthened to double the number of 
syllables, we find.it may be so pronounced as to 
form an harmonious cadence. Another exam- 
ple will show the necessity of sometimes 
breaking the general rule. Mr. Addison, speak- 
ing of the mutual polish and refinement which 
the intercourse between the sexes gives each oth- 
er, concludes, 

In a word : a man would not only be an unhappy, but a rude 



f 



ELOCUTION. 



28' 



unfinished creature, were he conversant with none bat those of 
his own make. Sped, No. 433. 

Here we find the intermediate member close the 
sentence, and is of such a length as to forbid the 
feeble monotone which is proper in other cases. 
It may not, however, be useless to observe, that 
when these intermediate members are so long, or 
of so much importance as to demand an emphatic - 
ai pronunciation, the antithesis is in some meas- 
ure obscured, and the sentence is deprived of 
spirit and vivacity. 

Before we conclude this article, we may ob- 
serve, that the emphasis on opposite parts, which 
©bscures the intermediate member, is calculated 
more for the purposes of force than harmony, 
and therefore ought to be observed with less rig- 
our in verse than prose ; but where the former 
is familiar, argumentative, and strongly emphat- 
ical, it seems to require the obscure pronuncia- 
tion of tie intermediate member no less than the 
latter. 

EXAMPLE. 

'Tishard to say if greater want of skill 
Appear in writing or in judging ill : 
But of the two less dangerous is th' offence, 
To tire our patience than mislead our sense ; 
Some few in that, , but numbers err in this, 
Ten censure v/rong for one who writes amiss ; 
A fool might once himself alone expose, 
Now one in verse makes many more in prose. 

Pope's Eteay on Cvit* 

In the first couplet of this passage, the word iU f 
which agrees to both the emphatic words writ- 



288 ELEMENTS OF 

ing and judging, is pronounced feebly with the 
falling inflection, after a strong pronunciation of 
the same inflection on judging. In the next 
couplet, tire and patience, mislead, and sense, 
form a double emphasis, and come under the 
general rule ; but in the next couplet, the words 
wrong and amiss, being only different expres- 
sions for the same idea, are to be considered as 
an intermediate member to the two emphatic 
words censure and write, and pronounced feebly 
with the same inflections as the words they fol- 
low*. 

From what has been said on this article, it ap- 
pears of how much importance to reading and 
speaking is a judicious distribution of emphasis ; 
and if what has been observed be true, it is evi- 
dent how useful, and even necessary it must be, 
in teaching, to adopt something like the method 

* In the first edition of this work I had not sufficiently consid- 
ered the nature of unaccented words, and, therefore, gave them 
the very vague and indefinite appellations I met with in other 
authors, namely, obscure and feeble ; a farther prosecution of the 
subject in the lihetorical Grammar enabled me to ascertain the 
real force of these unaccented words, and to class them with the 
unaccented syllables of accented words. Thus a clear and 
definite idea was substituted for an indeteminate and obscure 
one : And I could, with confidence, tell my pupil that the sen. 
tence 

" I do not, so much request, as demand your attention," 

was pronounced like three words ? I do not like a word of three 
syllables, with the accent on the second ; so muck request, like a 
word of four syllables, with the accent on the last ; and as de- 
mand your attention, like a word of seven syllables, with the ac- 
cent on the third. See p. 239. * 



ELOCUTION. 



289 



of marking them here pointed out. Methods of 
this kind are usually rejected, because at first 
they are found rather to embarrass than assist the 
reader ; but this will be found to be the case in 
every art where improvement arises chiefly from 
habit : The principles of music would embar- 
rass and puzzle a performer who had learned on 
ly from the ear, but nothing but a knowledge of 
these principles could convey to him the difficult 
passages of a composer, and enable him to ac- 
quire them without the assistance of a teacher. 
Reading, indeed, may be considered as a species 
of music ; the organs of utterance are the instru 
ments, but the mind itself is the performer ; and 3 
therefore, to pursue the similitude, though the 
mind may have a full conception of the sense of 
an author, and be the better able to judge nicely 
of the execution of others, yet if it has not imbi- 
bed the habit of performing on its own instru- 
ment, no expression will be produced. There is 
a certain mechanical dexterity to be acquired be- 
fore the beautiful conceptions we possess can be 
communicated to others. This mechanism is 
an essential part of all the fine arts. Nothing 
but an habitual practice will give the musician 
his neatness of execution, the painter his force of 
colouring, and even the poet the happiest choice 
and arrangement of his words and thoughts. 
How, then, can we expect that a luminous and 
elegant expression in reading and speaking can be 
acquired without a similar attention to habitual 
practice ? This is the golden key to every ex p . 
B b 



290 



ELEMENTS OF 



cellence, but can be purchased only by labour, 
unremitting labour, and perseverance. 

Harmonic Inflection. 

Besides that variety which necessarily arises 
from an attention to the foregoing rules, that is, 
from annexing ceitain inflections to sentences of 
a particular import or structure, there is still an- 
other source of variety, in those parts of a sen- 
tence where the sense is not at all concerned, 
and where the variety is merely to please the ear. 
It is certain, that if the sense of a sentence be 
strongly conveyed, it will seldom be inharmoni- 
ously pronounced ; but it is as certain, there are 
many members of sentences which may be dif- 
ferently pronounced without affecting the sense, 
but which cannot be differently pronounced 
without greatly affecting their variety and harmo- 
ny. Thus in the following sentence: 

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along 1 the dial-plate, 
but did not perceive it moving-; and it appears that the grass lias 
grown, though nobody ever saw it grow : so the advances we 
make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are only 
perceivable by the distance. 

In this sentence, provided we do not drop the 
voice before the end, the sense of the sentence 
is not at all concerned in any of the inflections, 
except that on grow in the middle, which must 
necessarily be the rising, and that on distance at 
the end, which must be the falling inflection : if 



ELOCUTION. 291 

these inflections are preserved on these words, 
the rest may take their chance, and the sense will 
be scarcely affected ; but the dullest ear must 
perceive an infinite advantage to the harmony in 
placing the falling inflection on grown in the first 
part of the sentence, and on knowledge in the 
last: and so natural is this pronunciation, that 
there are few readers so bad as not to place these 
inflections on these words without any other 
guide than the ear. 

This part of pronunciation, therefore, though 
of little importance to the sense, is of the utmost 
importance to the harmony of a sentence. Eve- 
ry writer on the subject has left it entirely to the 
ear ; and, indeed, so nice are the principles on 
which harmony and variety in pronunciation de- 
pend, that it is no wonder any analysis of it has 
been shifted off, and classed among those things 
for which it is utterly impossible to give rules. 
But as we have often observed, though the vari- 
eties of voice, in other respects, are almost infi- 
nite, all these varieties are still reducible to two 
radical and essential differences, the upward and 
downward slide or inflection ; and therefore, 
though the high and low, the loud and soft, the 
quick and slow, the forcible and feeble, admit of 
almost infinite degrees, every one of these differ- 
ences and degrees must either adopt the rising 
or falling inflection of voice ; and these inflec- 
tions being more essential to the sense and har- 
mony than any, or all the other differences, we 
have, in the distinction of the voice into the ri~ 



292 



ELEMENTS OF 






sing and falling inflection, a key to part of the 
harmony and variety so much admired, and, it 
may be added a very essential part. If therefore 
no rules could be given to the application of 
these inflections to the purposes of harmony and 
variety the practicability of marking upon paper 
those which are actually made use of by good 
readers and speakers, would be of the utmost 
importance to elocution ; but in this, as well as 
in other cases, an attempt will be made to 
mark out some rules, which it is hoped will not 
be entirely useless. 



Preliminary Observations. 

When similar members of sentences do not 
run into such a series, as brings them into the 
enumerative form ; the voice, both to relieve the 
ear, and impress the sense, falls naturally into a 
succession of inflections, which is something 
similar to that used in the series, and at once 
gives force and varieiy : these inflections some 
times take place at the beginning of a sentence, 
where the members are similar ; but most com- 
monly near the end, when the sentence is conclu- 
ding with several similar members, which, with- 
out this inflection on some particular words, 
would disgust the ear by a succession of similar 
sounds. This inflection, from the obvious use 
of it, we may call the Harmonic Inflection. 

Difficult, and, perhaps, impossible as it is to 



ELOCUTION. 



293 



describe sounds upon paper to those who are 
wholly unacquainted with them, the task is not 
quite so arduous when we address those who 
have a general idea of what we attempt to con- 
vey. If the nature of the rising and falling in- 
flections has been sufficiently conceived, the use 
of them in this particular will be easily pointed 
out. The harmonic inflection then is, using the 
rising and falling inflection of the voice upon 
successive words, principally to please the ear, 
and break a continued chain of similar pauses .: 
for the rising inflection of the voice lias nothing 
emphatical in it, nor the falling any thing conclu- 
ding. As this latter inflection, and the small 
pause that accompanies it, often takes place on 
words that are immediately connected in sense 
with what follows, it seems barely a resting place 
for the voice and ear, and such an enforcing of 
the sense as naturally arises from a more deliberate 
pronunciation of the words. That the voice 
may be in the falling inflection without marking 
a conclusion in the sense, and even while it ex- 
cites expectation of something to follow, is evi- 
dent from the pronunciation of the first member 
of a series ; but this falling inflection of the voice 
b essentially different from that which we com- 
monly use when we conclude a sentence ; for, in 
the former case, as has been already observed, 
the voice is palpably raised higher than on the 
preceding words, though ending with the falling 
inflection* ; in the latter it falls gradually lower 

\ See Part. 1 p. 74-, 133. 

Bb 2 



294 



ELEMENTS OF 



on several of the preceding words, and may 
properly be said to drop. An example will con- 
tribute greatly to the comprehending of this mark- 
ing inflection, so necessary to the variety and 
harmony of a sentence. 

"We may observe, that any single circumstance of what we 
have formerly seen often, raises up a whole scene of imagery, 
and awakens numberless ideas that slept in the imagination ; such 
a particular smell or colour is able to fill the mind on a sudden 
with a picture of the fields or gardens where we first met with 
it ; and to bring up into vihv all the variety of images thatonce 
attended it. Spectator. No. 417. 

We may here observe, that the former part of 
this passage has a succession of similar pauses 
till it comes to the semicolon, (which, from the 
complete sense it forms, might as well have been 
marked by a colon), and that the succeeding part 
of the sentence runs exactly into the same suc- 
cession of similar pauses : winch, if pronounced 
exactly alike, would offend the ear by a mono- 
tony. A good reader, therefore, solicitous to 
avoid a sameness of sound, throws his voice into 
tht rising inflection upon bring, and into the foi- 
ling upon view, by which means a variety is in- 
troduced, and the period ends more harmonious- 
ly from the preparation made for it by the har- 
monic inflection. 

Another instance where this inflection may be 
repeated successively, is, perhaps, better calcula- 
ted to convey an idea of it : 

We may learn from this observation which we have made on the 
mind of man, to take particular care, when we have once settled 
in a regular course of life, how we too frequently indulge our- 
selves in any the most innocent divers-ions and entertainments ; 



ELOCUTION. 



295 



since the mind may insensibly fall off from the relish of virtuous 
actions, and by degrees exchange that pleasure, which it takes in 
the performance of its duty, for delights of a much more inferior 
and unprofitable nature. " Sped. No. 44~ 

In this example, we have the same succession of 
similar pauses as in the last ; and though the 
voice may very properly fix itself in the falling 
inflection on the word entertainments, and by that 
means occasion some variety, yet the subsequent 
part of the period proceeds by similar pauses as 
well as the former ; and therefore, the harmonic 
inflection introduced upon the words degrees and 
exchange, and upon that and pleasure, that is, 
the rising inflection, upon degrees and that, and 
the falling inflection upon exchange and pleasure y 
by this means, I say, the monotony will be brok- 
en, the thought enforced, and the period render- 
ed much more musical. 

One example more, where this inflection may 
be oftener repeated, will still better enable us to 
show the real nature and use of it : 

l must confess I think it below reasonable creatures to be alto- 
gettje? conversant in such diversions as are merely innocent, and 
have nothing else to recommend them, but that there is no hurt in 
them. Whether any kind of gaming has even this much to say for 
3! self, I shall not determine; but 1 think it very wonderful to see 
persons of the best sense pissing away a dozen hours together in 
shuffling and dividing a pack of cards, with no oilier conversation 
hut whit is made up of a few game phrases, and no other ideas, 
but those of black and red spots ranged together in different 
figures. Spect. No. 93. 

The necessity of introducing the harmonic in- 
flection in the latter part of this sentence will bet- 
er appear, by first reading it in the common man- 



296 



ELEMENTS OF 



ner, and afterwards with the inflection we have 
been describing; this will show the difficulty of 
avoiding a monotony without adopting this in- 
flection, and the variety and force it gives to the 
language and sentiment when it is adopted. The 
words best and sense; passing an&away; dozen and 
together; shuffling and dividing ; other and con- 
versation ; what and made up ; these wwds, I 
say, will be very apt to drag, and produce a same- 
ness of sound if pronounced in the common way ; 
but if the rising inflection is used on the first, and 
the falling on the last of every pair, the monoto- 
ny will be prevented, and a succession of sounds 
introduced, very descriptive of the repetition 
conveyed by the words. 

But the great object of the harmonic inflection 
is forming the cadence : here it is, that harmony 
and variety are more peculiarly necessary, as the 
ear is more particularly affected by the close of a 
subject, or any branch of a subject, than by any oth- 
er part of the composition. We have had frequent 
occasion to observe, that though a series of senten- 
ces may all require to be pronounced with the fal- 
ling inflection ; yet if they all belong to one sub- 
ject, or one branch of a subject, usually called 
a paragraph, that the last of them only demands 
that depression of voice which marks a conclu- 
sion : to which observation we may add this gen- 
eral rule. 

Rule I. When a series of similar sentences, or 
members of sentences, form a branch of a subject 
or paragraph ; the last sentence or member must 



ELOCUTION. 



297 



fall gradually into a lower tone, and adopt the 
harmonic inflection, on such words as form the 
most agreeable cadence. 

EXAMPLES. 

One of the most eminent mathematicians of the age has assured 
me, that the greatest pleasure he took in reading Virgil was in 
examining JEneas's voyage by the map; as I question not but many 
a modern compiler of history would be delighted with little more 
in that divine author than in the bare matters of fact. 

Sped. No. 109. 

Here we find placing the rising inflection upon 
the word little, and the falling upon more ; and 
the falling upon divine, and the rising upon au- 
thor, gives both a distinctness and harmony to the 
cadence. 

Gratian very oftea recommends the fine taste as the utmost per- 
fection of an accomplished man. As this word arises very often 
in conversation, I shall endeavour to give some account of it; and 
to lay down rules how we may know whether we are possessed of 
it, andh6w we may acquire that fine taste of writing which is so 
much talked of among the polite world. Sped. No. 109. 

Placing the rising inflection upon how, and the 
falling upon acquire ; the falling inflection upon 
fine, and the rising upon writing, prevents a same- 
ness which would otherwise arise from the simili- 
tude of the three members, and gives an agreea- 
ble close to the sentence. 

Since I have mentioned this unaccountable 2eal which appears 
in atheists and infidels, I must further observe, that they are like- 
wise in a most particular manner possessed with the spirit of big- 
otry. They are wedded to opinions full of contradiction and im» 
possibility, and at the same time look upon the smallest difficulty 
man article of faith as a sufficient reason for rejecting it. 

Spect. No. 185, 



£298 ELEMENTS OF 

As the rising inflection on the word wedded, and 
the falling on the word opinions, the falling on con- 
tradiction, and the rising on impossibility, pre- 
vents a sameness in the first member of the last 
sentence arising from its similitude to the closing 
member of the first ; so the rising inflection up- 
on the words same and smallest, and the falling 
upon time and difficulty, and the falling upon ar- 
tide, and the rising upon faith ; this arrangement 
of inflections, I say, on the latter part of the sen- 
tence, gives a force, harmony, and variety, to the 
cadence. 

We may be sure the metaphorical word taste would not have 
been so general in all tongues, had there noi been a very great 
conformity between that mental taste, which is the subject of this 
paper, and that sensitive taste which gives us a relish of every dif- 
ferent flavour that affects the palate. Accordingly we find, there 
are as many degrees of refine mint in the intellectual faculty, as in 
the sense which is marked out by this common denomination. 

Sped. No. 409. 

If we do but place the rising inflection on ac- 
cordingly, and the falling on find, the rising 
on many, and the falling on refinement, in the 
last sentence, we shall perceive a great variety, 
as well as harmony added to the whole passage. 



Harmony of Prose. 

The foregoing observations on the harmony 
of the cadence, have, undoubtedly, suggested to 
the reader that great object of ancient and mod- 
ern composition, the harmony of prose : this is a 



ELOCUTION. 



299 



subject so intimately connected with harmonious 
pronunciation, that it seems necessary to investi- 
gate the principles of that composition which is 
generally esteemed harmonious, in order, if pos- 
sible, to throw some light upon the most accu- 
rate mode of delivering it. 

The ancients thought harmonious prose to be 
only a looser kind of numbers, and resolved many 
passages of their most celebrated orations into 
such feet as composed verse. In modern lan- 
guages, where accent seems to stand for the quan- 
tity of the ancients, we find harmonious prose 
resolvable into an arrangement of accented sylla- 
bles, somewhat similar to that of versification. 
The return of the accented syllable at certain 
intervals, seems the common definition of both. 

In verse we find these intervals nearly equal ; 
and.it is this equality which forms the measure. 
Thus in the following couplet : 

Short is the date, alas ! of modern rhym&s ; 

And 'tis but just to let them live betimes. PoJFp. 

An undisciplined reader, in pronouncing this sen- 
tence, would be apt, from the greater smooth- 
ness of the line, to lay the accent, or metrical em- 
phasis, as it may be called, on the word is in the 
first line ; but as this would bring forward a word 
which, from its nature, is always sufficiently un- 
derstood, a good reader will place the accent on 
short and date, and sink the words is the into a> 
comparative obscurity ; and as this interval of 
two syllables happens at the beginning of aline, 



300 ELEMENTS OF 

it is so far from having a bad effect on the ear, 
that it frequently relieves it from the too great 
sameness to which rhyming verse is always lia- 
ble. 

But if this inequality of interval is sometimes 
for the sake of variety necessary in verse, it is not 
to be wondered, that for a similar reason, we avoid 
as much as possible too great a regularity of in- 
terval between the accented syllables in prose. 
Loose and negligent, however, as prose may ap- 
pear, it is not entirely destitute of measure : for 
it may be with confidence asserted, that, where- 
ver a style is remarkably smooth and flowing, it. 
is owing in some measure to a regular return of 
accented syllables. And though a strength and 
severity of style has in it something more excel- 
lent than the soft and flowing, yet the latter holds 
certainly a distinguished rank in composition. 
The music of language never displeases us, but 
when sense is sacrificed to sound ; when both are 
compatible, we should deprive a thought of half 
its beauty, not to give it all the harmony of which 
language is susceptible. As all subjects are not 
masculine, sublime, and strong ; nil subjects do 
not require, and, indeed, are not susceptible of a 
strength and severity of style. Those, therefore, 
which are beautiful, didactic, and persuasive, de- 
mand a smoothness and elegance of language ; 
which is not only agreeable, as it is suited to the 
objects it conveys, but, like fine colours or 
sounds, is in some measure, pleasing for its own 
sake. Accordingly, we find, that, though we 



ELOCUTION. 



101 



cannot so easily trace that accentual rhythmus 
which forms the harmony of the beginning and 
middle of a sentence, yet the latter part, or what 
is commonly called the cadence, consists (when 
harmoniously constructed) of such an arrange- 
ment of accented words as approaches nearly to 
Verse. Every ear will immediately find a rug- 
gedness and want of harmony in the conclusion of 
the following sentence : 

We are always complaining- our days are few., and acting as 
though there would be no end of them. Addistrn^ 

The reason of this harshness seems to be, that 
vast chasm of unaccented words that extends 
from the word acting to the word end. The eat, 
indeed, sensible of the want of accent, lays a little 
Stress upon though : but this does not quite rem, 
edy the evil : still there are four words unaccent- 
ed, and the sentence, remains harsh: but if we 
alter its structure, by placing a word that admits 
of an accent in the middle of these four words* 
we shall find harmony succeed to harshness itnft 
inequality. 

We are always complaining our days are few, and acting as. 
q hough there would never be an end of them. 

This difference, therefore, can arise from no- 
thing but an unequal and unmetrical arrange- 
ment of accent in the former sentence, ana a 
greater approach to equal and metrical arrange- 
ment of accent in the latter. 

As a farther corroboration of the truth of this 

Go 



302 



ELEMENTS OF 






opinion, let us take a sentence remarkable for its 
harmony, and try whether it arises from the fore- 
going principles. 

We hear at this distance but a faint echo of that thunder in De- 
mosthenes, which shook die throne of Mace don to its foundations; 
and are sometimes at a loss for that conviction in the arguments 
of Cicero, which balanced in the midst of convulsions the totter- 
ing- republic of Rome. 

In the latter part of this sentence, we find the 
accented syllables at exactly equal intervals from 
the word sometimes to the word midst; that is, 
there are three unaccented syllables between every 
accented syllable : and from the word midst to 
the word Rome, there is an exact equality of in- 
tervals; that is, two unaccented syllables, or, 
which is perfectly equivalent, syllables pronoun- 
ced in the time of two, to one unaccented. 

Now, if we change a few of the words of this 
sentence to others of different length and accent, 
we shall find the harmony of the sentence con- 
siderably diminished, though the sense may be 
inviolably preserved. 

We hear at this distance but a faint echo of th-at thunder in De- 
mosthenes which shook the throne of Macedon to its foundations.; 
and are sometimes at a loss for that force in the proofs of Cice-, 
ro, which balanced in the midst of anarctvy the tottering- state ©Y 
Rpme. 

That full flow of prosaic harmony } so percept 
tible in the former sentence, is greatly diminish- 
ed in- this; and the reason seems plainly point- 
ed out : for as the harmony of verse is owing 1 
solely to an equal and regular return of accent 



ELOCUTION 



30: 



the harmony of prose must arise from the same 
source ; that is, as verse owes its harmony en- 
tirely to a regular return of accent, prose can 
never be harmonious by a total want of if. The 
sole difference between them seems to lie in the 
constant, regular, and artificial arrangement of 
accent in the one, and the unstudied, various, 
and even opposite arrangement in the other. 
Verse, with some few exceptions, proceeds in a 
regular alternation of accent, from one end of the 
poem to the other ; harmonious prose, on the con- 
trary, in some members, adopts one species of 
arrangement, and in some another ; but always 
so as to avoid such clusters of accents in one 
place, and such a total absence of them in an- 
other, as necessarily occasions a ruggeduess and 
difficulty of pronunciation. 

At first sight, perhaps, we should be led to 
suppose, that the intervals between the accents 
ought rather to diminish than increase as they ap- 
proach the end of a sentence ; and yet, if we con- 
sult the ear, we shall find that intervals of two 
unaccented syllables sound better even in the 
closing member of a sentence, than intervals of 
one unaccented syllable only. Let us take the 
following sentence as an example of this : 

Demetrius compares prosperity to the indulgence of a fond 
mother to a child, which often proves his ruin; but the affection of 
the Divine Being- to that of a wise father, who would have his sons 
exercised in labour, disappointment, and pain, that they may 
gather strength and fortitude. 

Now, if, instead of the word strength, we sub- 



304 



ELEMENTS OF 



stitute experience, though the sense may be 
weakened, the sound will, perhaps, be improved ; 
and if the ears of others should agree with mine 
in this particular, it may be laid down as a rule, 
that other circumstances being equal, the last 
members of sentences ought rather to end in the 
dactylic than in the iambic measure. In this ap- 
pellation of the measure of prose, I adopt the 
terms generally made use of, and particularly by 
Mason, in his Essay on Prosaic Numbers. This 
gentleman deserves much praise for his attempt 
to investigate the causes of prosaic harmony, but 
appears to me to have an idea of English metre 
so blended with that of the Latin and Greek, as 
to throw error and confusion over his whole per^ 
formance. For what can we make of his placing 
two long quantities over the two syllables of the 
words sentence and sp ndee ? Each of these words 
can have but one accent ; and it is accent, or em- 
phasis, and these only, and not any length or 
openness, of the vowels, that forms English 
metre, or that rhythmus which is analogous to it 
in prose. 



Harmony of Prosaic Inflections. 

Hitherto I have only considered poetic and 
prosaic harmony as arising from an harmonious 
and rhythmical arrangement of accent ; and it is 
with some diffidence I venture upon a farther ex ♦ 



ELOCUTION 



\Q5 



plication of this subject upon principles which 
have never yet been thought of : but I presume 
it will be found, upon inquiry, that the various 
and harmonious arrangement of the rising and 
falling inflections of the voice, is no less the cause 
of harmony 5 both in verse and prose, than the 
metrical arrangement of accent and emphasis. 

The melody both of prose and verse seems to 
consist as much in such an arrangement of em- 
phatic inflection, as suits the sense, and is agree- 
able to the ear, as it does in a rhythmical dispo- 
sition of accented and emphatic syllables. To 
illustrate this observation, let us take an harmo- 
nious couplet in Pope's Prologue to Cato ; 

A brave man struggling- in the storms of fate. 
And greatly falling with a falling stale. 

The first line of this couplet ends with the ri- 
sing inflection, to prevent the want of harmony 
there would be in ending two successive lines 
with the same inflection ; a sameness for which 
nothing but emphasis will ever apologize. . As 
this line ends with the rising inflection, the last 
word may not improperly be called the rudder, 
which directs the inflections on the preceding 
words ; for in order to prevent an exact return 
of the same order of inflection, it is not sufficient 
that the different inflections succeed each other 
alternatively ; this would be like the successive 
sounds of the letters ,A B ; A, B. To prevent a 
return of sounds so little various, we find the ear 
generally adopt a succession of inflection, which 
Cc % 



306 



ELEMENTS OF 



interposes two similar inflections between twQ 
similar inflections ; and this produces a variety 
similar to the series, 

A, B, B, A; orB, A, A, B. 

The first line, therefore, of this verse, neces- 
sarily ending- with the rising inflection oh the 
word fate, in order to make the other word a»s 
various and harmonious as possible, the falling 
inflection is placed on storms, the same inflecticrn 
on struggling, and the rising inflection on brave-; 
and this, in the first line, forms the arrange- 
ment, rising, falling, falling, rising; or 

A, B, B, A. 

The next line ending the sentence, necessarily 
adopts the falling inflection on the last word state, 
and this directs the rising inflection to be placed 
on the two words falling, and the falling inflec- 
tion on greatly, which produces this order, fal- 
ling, rising, rising, falling ; or B, A, A, B< Thig 
order of placing the inflections is not invariably 
adopted, because emphasis sets aside every oth* 
er-rule, and makes harmony subservientto sense: 
but it may be asserted, this order of arranging the 
inflections is so generally adopted by the ear, that 
when emphasis does not forbid, this is the ar- 
rangement into which the verse naturally slides^ 
It may likewise be observed, that where empha- 
sis coincides with this arrangement, the verse is 
always the most harmonious, and the sense in its 



ELOCUTION. 



S07 



most poetical dress. Nay, we shall find harmo- 
nious prose, where emphasis does not interrupt 
the natural current of inflection, glide insensibly 
into this rhythmical arrangement of inflection. 
Let us take an example : 

Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution. 

Agreeably to the order we have just taken no- 
tice of, we find this sentence adopt the falling in- 
flection on exercise \ the rising on temperance 
and strengthen, and the falling on constitution $ 
•but if we add another member to this sentence, 
so -connected with this as to require the rising 
inflection on constitution, we shall find that .the 
arrangement of inflection is changed, but the 
same order preserved. 

'Exercise and temperance strengthen the constitution, and 
sweeten the enj6yments of life. 

-Here, I say, contrary to the former arrangement, 
we find the rising inflection on exercise, the fal- 
ling on temperance and strengthen, and the ri- 
sing on constitution j because here the sense re- 
mains suspended and unfinished. See Plate 1. 
5vf° IV. p. 97, 98, A final member succeeds, 
consisting of three accented words ; the two last 
-of which must always be pronounced with dif- 
ferent inflections ; that is, the penultimate with 
the rising, and the ultimate with the falling in- 
flection ; but the antipenultimate word sweeten-, 
may adopt either the rising or falling inflection, 
as either will diversify it sufficiently from the 



308 ELEMENTS OF 

preceding and succeeding inflections ; but the 
tailing inflection on this word seems to be prefer- 
able, as the three words sweeten, enjoyment, and 
life, form one distinct portion ; and this portion 
can be no way so variously pronounced as by the 
falling inflection on sweeten, the rising on enjoy- 
ments, and the falling on life. 

But whatever may be the order of arrangement 
in the commencement and middle of a sentence^ 
it is certain, that if we mean to form an harmonir 
ous cadence, one of these two arrangements of 
inflection ought to take place at the end of a sen- 
tence : that is, if the last member consists of four 
accented words, the same inflections ought tp 
take place at the end of a sentence, as we find 
generally obtain in the last line of a couplet in 
poetry ; or if the last member consist of three 
'accented words, such inflections ought to be a- 
dbpted as will make a series of three inflections 
most various, which is, by giving the last word 
the tailing, thepenultimate the rising, and the an- 
tipenultimate either the rising or falling inflection. 
See Simple Series, Rule iv. p. 100. 

An instance of the first arrangement is the fol- 
lowing sentence : 

The immortality of the soul is the basis of morality, and the 
source of all the pleasing- hopes and secret joys, that can arise in 
the heart of a reasonable creature. Sped. ^io. 111. 

In the last member but one of this sentence, 
the words pleasing and joys have the rising in- 
flection, and hopes and secret the falling ; and in 






ELOCUTION. 



309 



the last member, the words arise and creature 
have the falling, and heart and reasonable the ri- 
sing inflection, which is exactly the order of in- 
flection in the last couplet of the tragedy of Cato : 

Produces fraud and cruelty and strife 
And robs the guilty world of Cato's life : 

where produces and strife have the rising inflec- 
tion, and fraud and cruelty the falling ; and guil- 
ty and life the falling, and world and Cato the ri- 
sing inflection. 

An instance of the other arrangement we find 
in this sentence : 

Cicero concludes his celebrated baoks tie Oratore, with some 
precepts for pronunciation and action ; without which part he af- 
firms, that the best orator in the world can never succeed, and 
an indifferent one, who is master of this, shall gain much greater 
applause. 

In order to pronounce this sentence with an har- 
monious cadence, the word this must have the 
rising inflection, as at the end of the first line of 
a couplet, and the three last words, much greater 
applause, which form the last member, must be 
pronounced very distinctly with the falling in- 
flection on the last, the rising inflection on great- 
er and the falling on much. 

The rule, therefore, that arises from these ob- 
servations is, that when the last pause necessarily 
leaves the last member of a sentence with four 
accented words, as in the first example, they are 
pronounced with the inflections in the order fal- 
ling, rising, rising, falling: and when the pause 



310 



ELEMENTS OF 






leaves three accented words in the last member, 
they are pronounced as in the last example ; that 
is, either in the order, fallings rising. Jailing ; 
or rising, rising, falling. 

As a corroboration of these principles, we may 
observe, that where the pause necessarily leaves 
but two accented words in the last member, and 
that emphasis forbids the preceding member to 
be so pronounced as to form the order of inflec- 
tions we have prescribed ; when this is the case, 
I say, we shall find the period end inharmoni- 
otisly. Let us take an example : 

If they do not acquiesce in his judgment, which I think nevei' 
happened above once or twice at most, they appeal to me. 

Spectator, 

Here the sense requires, that the emphasis with 
the failing inflection should be pfcced on the 
word most ; after which must be a pause : and 
as the final member consists only of two accent- 
ed words, appeal and me, no tolerable cadence 
can be formed ; for these words, having neces- 
sarily the rising and failing inflection, are but a 
repetition of the same inflections, in the same or- 
der as on the words twice and most , which forms 
as monotonous a conclusion as the series, 
A, B; A, B. 
It seldom happens, however, that the sentence 
is so constructed as to prevent the ear from fal- 
ling into one or other of the two before mentioned 
arrangements of inflection. For so agreeable to 
the ear is an harmonious cadence, that for the 



elocution. 311, 

Bake of forming one, allowances will be made 
for giving an emphatic accent even to words not; 
entitled to it from their sense. Let us suppose 
the following sentence forming the conclusion of 
a discourse : 

So from what has been said, we may certainly conclude, 
that as virtue is not always rewarded in the present life, it will 
be sure to meet with the moat ample and satisfactory reward in 
the life to come. 

If this sentence is properly pronounced, thefe 
must be a considerable pause at the word re* 
ward, in order to pronounce the last member 
with a distinct and harmonious fall ; but if WM 
pause here, we snail find it impossible to pfo*~ 
nounce the last member harmoniously without 
laying a stress on the word in ; and though this 
word has no title either to accent or emphasis 
from the sense it conveys, yet the necessity of 
concluding a discourse, or any capital branch of 
a- discourse, with an harmonious fall, will suffi- 
ciently authorize a considerable stress and distinct 
inflection on that insignificant word. 

A good ear, therefore, will sometimes lay a 
stress on certain words, and sometimes omit it 
for the sake of an harmonious cadence. Thus, 
in Sterne's Sermon on the House of Mourning 
and the House of Feasting, we mett with this 
passage : 

From reflections of this serious cast, bow insensibly do the 
thoughts carry us farther ! and from considering 1 what we are, 
what kind of world we live in, and what evils befall us ih it, bow 



312 ELEMENTS OP 

naturally do they set us to look forward at what poBsibly we stall 
be ! for what kind of world we are intended — what evils may be- 
fall us there — and what provision we may make against them here, 
whilst we have time and opportunity. 

In this passage we find the last member, whilst 
We have time and opportunity, necessarily re- 
quires that the word whilst should be pronoun- 
ced with the degree of force due to an accented 
word, or the cadence would be faulty. But if this 
last member were constructed in this manner; 
whilst we have time and opportunity afforded us; 
in this case, I say, we need give no force to the 
word whilst, as there are three accented words, 
time, opportunity, and afforded, which will be 
sufficient to form the cadence without it. 

These observations necessarily suggest the 
importance of such a choice and arrangement pf 
words as fall in with the most harmonious pronun • 
ciation. Pronunciation and composition mutual-- 
Iy throw light on each other; they are counterparts 
of one great operation of the human mind, name- 
ly, that of conveying the ideas and feelings, of 
one man to another with force, precision, and? 
harmony. It will not be very surprising, there^ 
fore, if the foregoing observations on promifr- 
ciation should have hinted a few rules on the har- 
mony of composition. We have seen, that the 
harmony of every sentence depends more partic- 
ularly on the construction of the latter party* as 
this forms what is commonly called the cadence; 
This part of the sentence, therefore, should Be 

* Quint. L. IX, Gap. Iv. 



ELOCUTION. 



313 



more particularly attended to, as it is that which 
crowns the whole, and makes the most lasting 
impression on the ear. 



Rides for Reading Verse. 

Whatever difficulties we may find in read- 
ing prose, they are greatly increased when the 
composition is in verse ; and more particularly 
if the verse be rhyme. The regularity of the 
feet, and the sameness of sound in rhyming verse, 
strongly solicits the voice to a sameness of tone 
and tone, unless directed by a judicious ear 3 is apt 
to degenerate into a song, and a song, of all others, 
the most disgusting to a person of just taste. If, 
therefore, there are few who read prose with 
propriety, there are still fewer who succeed in 
verse; they either want that equable and har- 
monious flow of sound which distinguishes it 
from loose, unmeasured composition, or they 
have not a sufficient delicacy of ear to keep the 
harmonious smoothness of verse from sliding in- 
to a whining chant; nay, so agreeable is this 
chant to many readers, that a simple and natural 
delivery of verse seems tame and insipid, and 
much too familiar for the dignity of the lan- 
guage. So pernicious are bad habits in every 
exercise of the faculties, that they not only lead 
us to false objects of beauty and propriety, but at 
last deprive us of the very power of perceiving the 
mistake. For those, therefore, whose ears are 
D D 



3H ELEMENTS OP 

not just, and who are totally deficient in a true 
taste for the music of poetry, the best method of 
avoiding this impropriety is to read verse exactly 
as if it were prose ; for though this may be said 
to be an error, it is certainly an error on the safer 
side. 

To say, however, as some do , that the pro- 
nunciation of verse is entirely destitute of song, 
and that it is no more than a just pronunciation 
of prose, is as distant from truth, as the whining 
chant we have been speakingef, isfromtrue poetic 
harmony. Poetry without song is a body with- 
out a soul. The tune of this song is, indeed, 
difficult to hit ; but when once it is hit, it is sure 
to give the most exquisite pleasure. It excites 
in the hearer the most eager desire of imitation; 
and if this desire be not accompanied by a just 
taste or good instruction, it generally substitutes 
the turn ti, turn ti, as it is called, for simple, ele- 
gant poetic harmony. 

It must, however, be confessed, that elegant 
readers of verse often verge so nearly on what is 
called sing song, without falling into it, that it is 
no wonder those who attempt to imitate them, 
slide into that blemish which borders so nearly 
on a beauty. And, indeed, as an ingenious au- 
thor observes.^ " there is such an affinity be- 
" tween poetry and music, that they were in the 
" earlier ages never separated ; and though mod- 
" ern refinement has, in a great measure, de- 
" stroyed this union, yet it is with some degree 
" of difficulty, in rehearsing these divine com- 

* Philosophical Essay on the Delivery of written Language. 



ELOCUTION. 315 

" positions, that we forget the singing of the 
" Muse." 

The truth is, the pronunciation of verse is a 
species of elocution very distinct from the pro- 
nunciation of prose : both of them have nature 
for their basis ; but one is common, familiar, and 
practical nature ; the other beautiful, elevated, 
and ideal nature ; the latter as different from the 
former as the elegant step of a minuet is from 
the common motions in walking. Accordingly, 
we find, there are many who can read prose 
well, who are entirely at a loss for the pronunci- 
ation of verse : for these, then, we will endeavour 
to lay down a few rules, which may serve 
to facilitate the acquiring of so desirable an ac- 
complishment. 

But first it may be observed, that though all 
the passions may be in a poetical dress, and that 
the movement of the verse may be suited to all 
their different characters ; yet as verse is a spe- 
cies of music, none of the passions appear to 
such advantage in poetry as the benevolent ones ; 
for as melody is a thing pleasing in itself, it must 
naturally unite with those passions which are 
productive of pleasing sensations ; in like man- 
ner as graceful action accords with a generous 
sentiment, or as a beautiful countenance gives 
advantage to an amiable idea. Thus the noble 
and generous passions are the constant topics of 
ancient and modern poets ; and of these passions, 
the pathetic seems the favourite and most 
endearing theme. Those readers, therefore, who 



OAU ELEMENTS OF 

cannot assume a plaintive tone of voice, will 
never succeed in reading poetry ; and those who 
have this power, will read verse vety agreeably, 
though almost every other requisite for delivery 
be wanting. 

It has been observed upon a former occasion,* 
that the different inflections of voice upon partic- 
ular words are not so perceptible in verse as 
prose ; and that in the former, the voice some- 
times entirely sinks the inflection, and slides into 
a monotone This propensity of the voice in 
reading verse, shows how nearly poetry approach- 
es to music ; as those notes properly called mu- 
sical, arc really so many monotones, or notes 
without slides, in different degrees of the musi- 
cal scale, and sometimes in the same degree. 
This approach to a monotone, especially in plain* 
tive poetry, makes it often difficult, and some- 
times impossible, to distinguish whether the 
slides that accompany the pauses and emphasis of 
verse are rising or falling; and at those pauses 
where we can easily distinguish the inflections, we 
sometimes find them different from such as wc 
should adopt in reading the passage if it were 
prose ; that is, we often find the rising inflection 
at a pause in verse, where, if it were prose, we 
should use the falling : an instance is given of 
this at the end of the series, (p. 160) ; and to 
this many more might be added. For as pro- 
nunciation has for its object the strongest and 
clearest sense, united with the most agreeable 
sound ; if, in order to be harmonious, we must 

* Vol I. p. 202. 



ELOCUTION. 



317 



necessarily enfeeble or obscure the sense ; or if, 
in order to be strong and clear, we find it neces- 
sary to be harsh, the composition is certainly faul- 
ty ; and all a reader can do in this case is, to make 
such a compromise between sense and sound 
as will produce, upon the whole, the best effect. 
It has been before observed, that sometimes in 
prose, when the meaning is sufficiently obvious, 
we may abate an enforcement of the sense for the 
sake of the sound ; and in poetry, the sacrifice to 
sound is much more necessary ; that is, if the" 
sense be sufficiently clear ; for nothing can of- 
fend against every species of pronunciation so 
much as confusion or obscurity. But though an 
elegant and harmonious pronunciation of verse 
will sometimes oblige us to adopt different inflec- 
tions, from those we should use in prosaic pro- 
nunciation, it may be laid down as a good gene- 
ral rule, that verse requires the same inflections 
as prose, though less strongly marked, and more 
approaching to monotones. If, therefore, we arc 
at a loss for the true inflection of voice on anv 
word m poetry, let us reduce it to earnest conver- 
sation, and pronounce it in the most familiar and 
prosaic manner ; and we shall for the most part 
fall into those very inflections we ought to adopt 
in repeating verse : nay, it is the preservation of 
these prosaic inflections that makes the poetic 
pronunciation natural; and the whining chant 
which is adopted by many affected readers of po- 
etry, owes in a great measure, its origin to a neg- 
lect of this rule. Thus in the following couplet- 
Dd2 



' ° ELEMENTS OF 

Short is the date in which ill acts prevail, 

Bat honesty's a rock will never fail. Steele. 

If we pronounce the last word fail with the rising 
inflection, sliding upwards a little higher than 
usual, we shall infallibly draw the couplet into the 
whining one we are here speaking of;* but if we 
pronounce every part of the sentence exactly in 
in the same manner, except the last word, and 
give this the falling inflection, we shall find a nat- 
ural tone preserved, and the whining chant entire- 
ly vanished. 

This observation naturally leads us to a rule 
which may justly be looked on as the fundamen- 
tal principle of all poetic pronunciation ; which \% 
that, wherever a sentence, or member of a sen- 
tence, zvould necessarily require the falling infac? 
t'wn in prose, it ought always to have the same 
inflection in poetry\; for though, if we were to 
read verse prosaically, we should often place the 
falling inflection where the style of verse would 
require the rising, yet in those parts, where a 
portion of perfect sense, or the conclusion of a sen- 
tence, necessarily requires the falling inflection:, 
the •- same inflection must be adopted both in verse 
andprose, 

EXAMPLE. 

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
Of ihat forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 

* Conversing 1 with Dr. Johnson upon this subject, he repeated 
this couplet to me in the manner here described ; which he $ai«l 
was the manner in which Savage always used to pronounce verse, 



/ 



ELOCUTION. 



319 



With loss of Eden, till one greater man 

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat ; 

Sing heav'nly muse, that on the secret top 

Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire 

That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, 

In the beginning, how the heav'ns and earth 

Rose out of chaos. Milton's Parad. Lont y B. i. v. 1. 

Though we were to read this passage quite 
prosaically, it would not admit of the falling in- 
flection on any of its pauses till the end, and here 
the voice ought to assume the falling inflection, 
and be in a lower tone than at any of the other 
pauses : But in the following example : 

High on a throne of royal state, which faF 
Outshone the wealth of Ormus or of Inde, 
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand, 
Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, _ 
Satan exalted sat. Ibid. B, ii. <v. 1. 

In reading this passage prosaically, we might 
place the falling inflection on Inde ; but the po- 
etical pronunciation of this passage w r ould neces- 
sarily require a suspension of voice with the ri- 
sing inflection on that word. It may be obser- 
ved, indeed, that it is in the frequent use of the 
rising inflection, where prose would adopt the 
falling, that the song of poetry consists : familiar, 
strong, argumentative subjects naturally enforce 
the language with the falling inflection, as this is 
naturally expressive of activity, force and precis- 
ion ; but grand, beautiful, and plaintive subjects 
slide naturally into the rising inflection, as this is 
expressive of awe, admiration, and melancholy ; 
where the mind may be said to be passive : and 



320 ELEMENTS OF 

it is this general tendency of the plaintive tone to 
assume the rising inflection, which inclines judi- 
cious readers to adopt it at those pauses where 
the falling inflection is absolutely necessary ; and 
for want of which the pronunciation degene- 
rates into the whine, so much and so justly dis- 
liked ; for it is very remarkable, that if, where 
the sense concludes, we are careful to preserve 
the falling inflection, and let the voice drop into 
the natural talking tone, the voice may be sus- 
pended in the rising inflection on any other part 
of the verse, with very little danger of falling in- 
to the chant of bad readers. Thus in the follow- 
ing passage which opens the tragedy of Cato : 

The dawn is overcast, the morning low'rs. 
And heavily in clouds brings on the day ; 
The great, the important day, 
Big with the fate of Cato and of Rome. 

The grandeur of the objects and swell of lan- 
guage in this description, naturally throw the 
voice into those tones that express the awe and 
dignity which those objects excite in the mind ; 
and these tones being inclined to the plaintive ; 
naturally slide into the rising inflection on the 
pauses ; and this is apt to draw the voice into a 
chant : but let the word Rome have the falling in- 
flection and sink into a lower key, in the natural 
talking tone, and the imperfections in pronoun- 
cing the former part will be in a great measure 
covered ; on the contrary, though the former 
part be pronounced ever so accurately, if the 
word Rome has the rising inflection, the whole 



ELOCUTION. 321 

will appear to be unfinished, and have a disagree, 
able whining tone. 

This may suffice to shew the necessity of at- 
tending to the pronunciation of periods in verse, 
and of giving them the same inflection of voice 
they wouid require in prose ; for it must be care- 
fully noted, that though v.e often end with the ri- 
sing inflection in verse, where we should use the 
falling in prose, yet if in prose it is necessary we 
.should end with the rising inflection, we ought 
always to end with the same inflection in verse ; in 
this case, the rising inflection at the end of a sen- 
tence will not appear to have the whining tone. 
Thus, where a question would require the rising 
inflection in prose, verse wnil necessarily require 
it to the end with the same inflection : and in 
this case, the rising inflection will have no bad 
effect on the ear. 



EXAMPLE. 

What ! shall an African, glial! Juba's heir 
Reproach great Cato's son, and shew the world 
A virtue wanting- in a Roman soul ? 

Here, though every pause requires the rising in* 
flection, and the period the same, yet as this pe- 
riod is an interrogation requiring" the rising in- 
flection, no whining chant is the consequence, but 
the whole is natural. 

From these observations, this general rule will 
naturally arise ; that though, in verse, we fre- 
quently suspend the voice, by the rising inflection^ 



322 



ELEMENTS OP 



where, if the composition -were prose, we should 
adopt the falling ; yet, wherever, in prose, the 
member or sentence would necessarily require the 
rising inflection ; this inflection must necessarily 
be adopted in verse. An instance of all these 
cases may be found in the following example 
from Pope : 

He who through vast immensity can pierce, 
Sec worlds on worlds compose one universe; 
Ol/serve how system into system -uns, 
What other planets circle other suns ; 
"Wiiat vary'd being peoples ev'ry s<.r, 
May tell why hear'n has made us as we are. 
Bui of this frame, the bearings and die ties. 
The strong connexions, nice dependencies, 
Gradations just, lias thy pervading- soul 
Losk'dthr ■••ugh ? or can a part contain the whole \ 

Is the great chain that draws a; I to agree, 
And drawn supports, upheld by God, or thee ? 

If this passage were prose, every line but the 
fifth might end with the falling inflection, like a 
commencing series of five members ; but the 
fifth, being that where the two principal construc- 
tive parts unite, and the sense begins to form, 
here, both in prose and verse, must be the prin- 
cipal pause, and the rising inflection.* The two 
questions with which this sentence ends, ought to 
have the rising inflection also, as this is the in- 
flection they would necessarily have in prose ; 
though from injudiciously printing the last cou- 
plet so as to form a fresh paragraph, the word 
whole is generally pronounced with the falling in- 
flection, in order to avoid the bad effect of a 

• See Part I. p. 98, 111. 



ELOCUTION. 323 

question with the rising inflection at the end of a 
paragraph ; which would be effectually preven- 
ted by uniting the last couplet to the rest, so as 
to form one whole portion ; and which was un- 
doubtedly the intention of the poet. 

Having premised these observations, we shall 
endeavour to throw together a few rules for the 
reading of verse, which, by descending to partic- 
ulars, it is hoped will be more useful than those 
very general ones which are commonly to be met 
with on this subject ; and which, though very in- 
genious, seem calculated rather for the making 
of verses than the reading of them. 

Rule I. As the exact tone of the passions, 
emotion, or which verse excites, is not at first 
easy to hit, it will be proper always to begin a 
poem in a simple and almost prosaic style, and so 
proceed till we are warmed with the subject, and 
feel the emotion we wish to express. 

Thus in Gray's Elegy in a Country Church- 
yard, if we cannot immediately strike into the 
solemn style with which that poem begins, it will 
be better to commence with an easier and less 
marking tone ; and somewhat like the style of 
reading prose, till the subject becomes a little fa- 
miliar. There are few poems which will not al- 
low of this prosaic commencement ; and where 
they do not, it is a much less fault in reading to 
begin with too little emphasis, than either to 
strike into a wrong one, or to execute the right- 
emphasis awkwardly. Gray's Elegy on the Ex- 



324 ELEMENTS 

tirpation of the Bards, is almost the only one that 
does not admit of commencing moderately. 

Ruin seize thee, ruthless king ! 
Confusion on thy banners wait ! &c. 

Rule II. In verse every syllable is to have the 
same accent, and every word the same emphasis, 
as in prose : for though the rhythmical arrange- 
ment of the accent and emphasis is the very defi- 
nition of poetry, yet, if this arrangement tends to 
give an emphasis to words which would have none 
in prose, or an accent to such syllables as have 
properly no accent, the rhythmus, or music of 
the verse, must be entirely neglected. Thus 
the article the ought never to have a stress^ 
though placed in that part of the verse where the 
ear expects an accent. 

Of all the causes which conspire to blind 
Man's erring- judgment and misguide the mind, 
What the weak head with strongest bias rules, 
Is pride ; the never failing vice of fools. Pofce: 

An injudicious reader of verse would be very apt 
to lay stress upon the article the in the third line, 
but a good reader would infallibly neglect the 
stress on this, and transfer it to the words what 
and weak. Thus also in the following example, 
no stress must be laid on the word of, because we 
should not give it any in prosaic pronunciation : 

Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made 
Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade. Ih'd 

For the same reason the word as, either in the 



"ELOCUTION. 



325 



first or second line of the following couplet, ought 
to have no stress : 

Eye nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies, 
And catch the manners living as they rise. 2602* 

The last syllable of the word excellent , in the fol- 
lowing couplet, being the place of the stress, is 
very apt to draw the organs to a wrong pronuncia- 
tion of the word, in compliance with the rhyth- 
mus of the verse : 

Their praise is still the style is excellent : 
The sense they humbly take upon content. Ibid. 

But a stress upon the last syllable of this word 
must be avoided upon pain of the greatest possi- 
ble reproach to a good reader ; which is that of 
altering the accent of a word, to indulge the ear 
in a childish jingle of syllables. The same may 
be observed of the word eloquence and the parti- 
cle the in the following couplet : 

False eloquence like the prismatic glass 
Its gaudy colours spreads on ev'ry place. Ibid. 

If in compliance with the rhythmus, or tune 
of the verse, we were to lay a stress on the last 
syllable of eloquence, and on the particle the in 
the first of these verses, scarcely any thing can be 
conceived more disgusting to a good judge of; 
reading. 

A bad fault opposite to this is very common 
among bad readers ; and that is, hurrying over 
the two last syllables of such words so as to 
£ e 



326 



ELEMENTS OF 






reduce the pronunciation to prose : for it must 
be carefully noted, that the beauty of reading 
verse depends exceedingly upon the tone in 
which we pronounce it. The unaccented sylla- 
bles, though less forcible, ought to have the same 
time as those that are accented ; a regular march, 
an agreeable movement, ought to reign through 
the whole. 

This rule, however, with respect to the place 
of the accent, admits of some few exceptions. 
Milton has sometimes placed words so unfavour- 
ably for pronunciation in the common way, that 
the ear would be more disgusted with the harsh- 
ness of the verse, if the right accent were preser- 
ved, than with a wrong accent which preserves the 
harmony of the verse : for it is not merely redu- 
cing aline to prose if the sense requires it, which 
is a capital fault in reading poetry, but reducing 
it to very harsh and disagreeable prose. Thus the 
Angel, in Milton, reasoning with Adam about 
the planets, says, 

For such vast room in nature unpossess'd 
By living souls, desert and desolate 
Only to shine yet scarce to contribute 
Each orb a glimpse of light, convey'd so far 
Down to this habitable, which returns 
Light back to them, is obvious to dispute. 

Par ad. Lost, 2?. viii. \\ 15ov- 

The word contribute has properly the accent on 
the second syllable ; but the verse would be s« 
harsh with this accent, that it is presumed a good 
reader would, for the sake of sound, lay the priu- 



ELOCUTION. oA * 

cipal accent on the first syllable, and a subordi- 
nate stress on the third. The same may be ob~ 
served of the word attribute, in the following pas- 
sage from the same author : 

The swiftness of those circles attribute, 
Though numberless, to his omnipotence, 
That to corporeal substances could add 
Speed almoit spiritual. Ibid. B. viii. v. 197. 

Where a word admits of some diversity in pla- 
cing the accent, it is scarcely necessary to ob- 
serve, that the verse ought in this case to decide. 
Thus in the following passage : 

Now gentle gales 
Fanning their odoriferous wings dispense 
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 
Those balmy spoils. Parad. Lost, B. iv. v. 156.. 

For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour 
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, 
A violet in the youth and prime of nature, 
Forward not permanent, though sweet not lasting, 
The perfume of a minute. tihakspsare. 

The word perfume in the passage from Milton 
ought to be accented on the last syllable, and the 
same word in Shakspeare on the first ; for both 
these modes of placing the accent are allowable 
in prose, though the last seems preferable ; as it 
is agreeable to that analogy of dissyllable nouns 
and verbs of the same form, which requires the 
accent to be on the first syllable of the noun, and 
on the last of the verb. 

But when the poet has with great judgment 
contrived that his numbers shall be harsh and 



328 ELEMENTS OF 

grating, in order to correspond to the ideas the] 
suggest, the common accentuation must be pre 
served. 

On a sudden open fly 
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound 
Th f infernal doors, and onlheir Linges grate 
Harsh thunder. Pavad. Lost, Ji. ii. tt. B79- 

Here the harshness arising from the accent on 
the second syllable of the word impetuous, finely 
expresses the recoil and jarring sound of the 
gates of hell. 

Rule III. The vowel e, which is often cut oft 
by an apostrophe in the word the, and in sylla- 
bles before r, as dangerous, generous, &c. ought 
to be preserved in the pronunciation, because the 
syllable it forms is so short, as to admit of being 
sounded with the preceding syllable, so as not to 
increase the number of syllables to the ear, or at 
all hurt the harmony. 

'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill 

Appear in writing or in judging ill ; 

But of the two less dang'rous is th' offence, 

To tire our patience, than mislead our sense. I'ty? 

Him the Almighty power 
Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' etherial sky 
With hideous ruin and combustion, down 
To boltomless perdition, there to dwell 
Iii adamantine chains, and penal fire, 
Who durst defy th 'Omnipotent to arms. >Milt.?: 

In the example from Milton, we have an instance 
that the particle the may either form a distinct 



ELOCUTION. 



329 



syllable in poetry or not; in the first line it must 
necessarily form a distinct syllable ; in the second 
and last it may be so blended with the succeed- 
ing word as to be pronounced without elision, 
and yet form no distinct syllable. 

Rule IV. Almost every verse admits of a 
pause in or near the middle of the line, 
which is called the caesura ; this must be 
carefully observed in reading verse, or much of 
the distinctness, and almost all the harmony 
will be lost. 



EXAMPLE. 

Nature to all things fixM the 11 mils fit, 
And wisely curb'd proud man's pretending wit ; 
As on the land, while here the ocean gains, 
In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains ; 
Thus in the soul, while memory prevails, 
The solid pow'r of understanding fails; 
Where beams of warm imagination play 
The memory's soft figures melt away. Pope.- 

These lines have seldom any points inserted in 
the middle, even by the most scrupulous punctu- 
ists ; and yet nothing can be more palpable to 
the ear, than that a pause in the first at things, in 
the second at curbed, in the third at land, in the 
fourth tit parts, and in the fifth at soul is abso- 
lutely necessary to the harmony of these lines ; 
and that the sixth, by admitting no pause but at 
understanding, and the seventh, none but at im- 
agination, border very nearly upon prose. The 
reason why these lines will not admit of a pause 
any where but at these words, will be evident to 



330 ELEMENTS OF 

those who have perused the former part of this 
work on the division of a sentence, (Part I. 
page 16.;) and if the reader would see one of the 
most curious pieces of analysis on this subject in 
any language, let him peruse in Lord Kaim's 
Elements of Criticism the chapter of Versifica- 
tion, where he will find the subject of pausing, a-s 
it relates to verse, discussed in the deepest, clear- 
est, and most satisfactory manner. It will be on- 
ly necessary to observe, in this place, that though 
the most harmonious place for the capital pause 
is after the fourth syllable, it may, for the sake 
of expressing the sense strongly and suitably^ 
and sometimes even for the sake of variety, be 
plaice at several other intervals. 

EXAMPLE. 

*Tis hard to say — if greater want of skill. 
So when an angel — by divine command, 
With rising- tempest — shakes a guilty land. 
Then from his closing" eyes — thy form shall part. 
And the last pang — shall tear thee from his heart. 
Inspired repuls'd battalions — to engage, 
And taught the doubtful battle — where to rage. 
Know, then, thyself — presume not Cod to scan ; 
The proper study of mankind — is man. 

But besides the capital pause, there are certain 
subordinate pauses, which, though not so essen- 
tial as the capital pause, yet, according to some of 
our prosodists, form some of the greatest delica- 
cies in reading verse, and are an inexhaustible 
source of variety and harmony in the composition 
of poetic numbers. But in the exemplifying of 
iijis demi-c&sura, or subordinate pause, our pro- 



!/ 



ELOCUTION. Wl 

soclists either show the impropriety of *Aany of 
these pauses, or that they may' be account- 
ed for upon a different principle. 

EXAMPLES. 

Relent | less walls || whole darksome round J contains. 
For her I white virgins | ! ,'»yme | nea j S g . n ^ 
In these (deep solitudes] |a'id aw | f u ] c ,,lis 

Nothing- could be more puerile and destruct- 
ive of the sense than to make pauses as they are 
here marked in the middle of the words relent- 
less, hymeneal, and awful, which are instances 
-Lord Kaim brings of the use of this half pause. 
In the lines quoted by Mr. Sheridan, as instan- 
ces of the demi-caesura, we find an emphatic op- 
position at every one ; and this opposition al- 
ways requires a pause, whether in prose or verse. 
See Part I. page 77. 

Glows | while he reads V» but trembles [ as he writes. 
Reason | the card jj but passion | is the gale. 
From men [ their cities (I and from J gods their fUr.es. 
From storms | a shelter j| and from heat | a shade. 

So that, on the whole, notwithstanding the de- 
cided manner in which these prosodists speak of 
the demi-ctfsura as necessary in verse, I am apt- 
to conclude that it often exists no where but in 
their own imaginations. But the next Rule will 
lead us to the consideration of a pause of much 
more importance, which is a pause at the end of 
the line. 

Rule V. At the end of every line in poetry 



!< 32 ELEMENTS OF 






must bp a pause proportioned to the intimate or 
remote connexion subsisting between the two 
lines. 

Mr. Sheridan, in his Art of Reading, has in- 
sisted largely on the necessity of making a pause 
at the end of every line in poetry, whether the sense 
requires it or not, which he says has incherto es- 
caped the observation of all writers on the sub- 
ject ; and this, he observes, is so necessary, that 
without it we change the verse into prose. It is 
with diffidence 1 dissent from such an authority, 
especially as I have heard it approved by per- 
sons of great j udgment and taste. * I must own , 
however, that the necessity of this pause, where 
the sense does not require it, is not so evident to 
me as to remove every doubt about it ; for, in 
the first place, if the author has so united the pre- 
ceding and following lines in verse as to make 
them real prose, why is a reader to do that which 
his author has neglected to do ; and indeed seems 
to have forbidden by the very nature of the com- 
position ? In the next place, this slight and al- 
most insensible pause of suspension does not seem 
to answer the end proposed by it ; which is, that 
of making the ear sensible of the versification, or 
of the number of accentual impressions in every 

* I asked Dr. I>owth, Mis Garrick, and Dr. Johnson, about 
the propriety of this pause, and they all agreed with Mr. Sheri- 
dan. Had 1 been less acquainted with the subject, and seen 
less of the fallibility of great names upon it, I should have yield- 
ed to this decision ; but great names are nothing- where the 
matter in question is open to experiment ; arid to this experiment 
I appeal. 



ELOCUTION. 



333 



line. For this final pause is often so small, when 
compared with that which precedes or follows it 
in the body of the line, and this latter and larger 
pause is so often accompanied with an inflection 
of voice which marks the formation of perfect 
sense, that the boundaries of the verse become 
almost, if not utterly imperceptible, and the com- 
position, for a few lines, fall into an harmonious 
kind of prose. For it is evident, that it is not a 
small pause at the end of a line in verse, which 
makes it appear poetry to the ear, so much as 
that adjustment of the accented syllables which 
forms a regular return of stress, whether the line 
be long or short. Accordingly, we find, that 
those lines in blank verse, which have a long 
pause in the middle, from a conclusion of the 
sense continuing, are, in spite of all our address 
in reading, very prosaical. This prosaic air in 
these lines may have a very good effect in point 
of expression and variety, but if too frequently 
repeated, will undoubtedly render the verse al- 
most imperceptible ; for, as was before observ- 
ed, the ear will measure the lines by the greatest 
pauses, and if these fall within, and not at the 
end of the line, the versification will seem to be 
composed of unequal lines, and will want that 
measure which the ear always expects in verse, 
and never dispenses with, but when sense, varie- 
ty, or expression is promoted by it. 



EXAMPLE. 

Deeds of eternal fame 
Were done, but infinite ; for wide was spreil 



^34 ELEMENTS OF 

That war, and various ; sometimes on firm ground 
A standing- fight ; then soaring- on main wing- 
Tormented all the air; all ftir seem'd then 
( .'enflicting fire : long time in even scale 
The battle hung JliUon. 

The pauses at the end of these lines are so 
small when compared with those in the body of 
the lines, that an appeal may be made to every ear 
for the truth of what has been just observed. 
This disproportion in the pauses cannot, however, 
be said to reduce the composition to prose ; nay, 
even if we were to use no pauses at all at the end of 
the lines, they would not, on this account, entire- 
ly lose their poetic character; for, at worst, they 
might be called numerous or harmonious prose ; 
and that the greatest part of blank verse is nei- 
ther more nor less than this, it would not be diffi- 
cult to prove. 

Mr. Sheridan defines numbers to be certain 
impressions made on the ear at stated and regu- 
lar distances ; and as he supposes verse would 
be no verse without a pause at the end of each 
line, he must define verse to be a certain number 
of impressions made on the ear at stated and reg- 
ular distances, terminated by a pause, so as to 
make this number of impressions perceptibly 
equal in every line. But if a pause comes into 
the definition of verse because it serves to shew 
the equal number of impressions in every line, 
a pause that is insufficient for this purpose is not, 
strictly speaking, a poetical pause ; for if the 
pause classes words into such portions as obliges 



ELOCUTION. -«3oD 

the ear to perceive the equality or inequality of 
these portions, the longest pauses will be the 
boundaries of those portions the ear will most- 
readily perceive, and the short pauses will, like 
the demi-cassura, appear either imperceptible, 
or subservient only to the greater pause : Thus 
the foregoing passage from Milton will, while 
we are ponouncing it, address the ear in the same 
manner it does the eye in the following arrange . 
ment s 

Deeds of eternal fame were clone, but infinite ; 
For wide was spread that war and various ; 
Sometimes on firm ground a standing fight ; 
Then soaring on main wing, tormented all the air ; 
All air seem'd then conflicting fire : " 
Long time in even scale the battle hung. 

This arrangement of the words, though exactly 
classed into those portions in which they come to 
the ear, seems to destroy the verse to the eye, 
and to reduce it into what may be called nume- 
rous prose : But have we not reason to suspect 
that the eye puts a cheat upon the ear, by ma- 
king us imagine a pause to exist where there is 
only a vacancy to the eye ? Mr. Sheridan has 
very properly accounted for the perception of 
false quantity in Latin verse by this association 
of visible and audible objects, and there seems an 
equal reason to suspect the same fallacy here. 

The best pronouncers of tragedy have never 
observed this pause, and why should it be intro- 
duced into other compositions is not easily com- 
prehended ; The numbers of the verse, the dfcs> 



Q36 



ELEMENTS OF 






nity of the language, an inversion of the common 
erder of the words, sufficiently preserve it from 
falling into prose ; and if the name of verse only 
be wanting, the loss is not very considerable. 
When the line is terminated by a rhyme, the 
boundaries of the verse are very discernible by 
the smallest pause ; though the most harmonious 
rhyming verse must be acknowledged to be that 
where the rhyme is accompanied by a consider- 
able pause in the sense ; but as too long a suc- 
cession of these lines satiates the ear with too 
much equality, we readily exchange sound for 
variety or force of expression. Sometimes even 
the pauses before and after a rhyme are so con- 
siderable, and that at the end of the rhyme so 
small, that the boundaries of the verse are lost 
in the rapidity of the expression. 

Which, "without passing through the judgment, gains 
The heart, and all its end at once attains. Pope 

'Tis with our judgments as cur watches ; none 
Go just alike, yet each believes his own. Ibid. 

In these lines I think it is evident, that if we 
make a small pause or suspension, as Mr. She- 
ridan calls it, at the end of the first verse, the 
pauses of sense at judgment and heart, and at 
-watches and alike, are so much more perceptible, 
that every trace of the length of the verse is lost; 
The same may be observed of the following lines 
of Milton: 

Sing heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top 
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire 



ELOCUTION. J°< 

That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed 

In the beginning, how the heav'ns and earth 

Rose out of chaos : Or if Sion hill 

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook, that flow'd 

Fast by the oracle of God : I thence 

Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous song. 

In the fifth, sixth, and seventh lines of this 
passage, the pause in the sense falls so distinctly 
on the words chaos, more, and God, that a slight 
pause at hill, flowed, and thence, would not have 
the least power of informing the ear of the end of 
the line, and of the equality of the verse, and, 
therefore, for these purposes would be entirely 
useless. For in all pronunciation, whether pro- 
saic or poetic, at the beginning of every fresh 
portion, the mind must necessarily have the 
pause of the sense in view ; and this prospect of 
the sense must regulate the voice for that portion, 
to the entire neglect of any length in the verse, 
as an attention to this must necessarily interrupt 
that Row or current in the pronunciation which 
the sense demands. Thus the current of the 
voice is stopped at chaos ; and the succeeding 
part of the verse, Or if Sion hill, is so much de- 
tached from the preceding part, that the admea- 
surement of the verse is destroyed to the ear, and 
we might add a foot more to the latter part of the 
verse without seeming at all to lengthen it ; we 
might, for example, write the line in this manner, 

Rose out of Chaos; or if Sion's verdant hill. 

without any indication of false quantity to the 
ear, though the eye scans it as too long by two 
syllables, 

F f 



338 



ELEMENTS OF 






The affectation which most writers of blank 
verse have of extending the sense beyond the 
line, whether necessary or not, is followed by a 
similar affectation in the printer, who will often 
omit placing a pause at the end of a line of verse, 
where he would have inserted one in prose ; and 
this affectation is still carried farther by the 
reader, who will generally run the sense of one 
line into another, w r here there is the least oppor- 
tunity of doing it, in order to show that he is too 
sagacious to suppose there is any conclusion in 
the sense because the line concludes. This af- 
fectation, I say, has possibly given rise to the 
opposite one adopted by the learned ; namely, 
that of pausing where the sense absolutely for- 
bids a pause, and so by shunning Scylla, to fall 
into Charybdis : This error is excellently des~ 
scribed by Pope : 

The vulgar thus through imitation err, 
As oft the learn'd by being- singular; 
So much they hate the crowd, that if the throng 
By chance go right, they purposely go wrong. 

The truth is, the end of a line in verse natur- 
ally inclines us to pause ; and the words that re- 
fuse a pause so seldom occur at the end of a 
verse, that we often pause between words in verse 
where we should not in prose, but where a pause 
would by no means interfere with the sense : this 
it is presumed, has been fully shown in the for- 
mer part of this work ; and this, perhaps, niay be 
the reason w r hy a pause at the end of a line in 



ELOCUTION. 



339 



poetry is supposed to be in compliment to the 
verse, when the very same pause in prose is al- 
lowable, and, perhaps, eligible, but neglected as 
unnecessary : However this be, certain it is, that 
if we pronounce many lines in Milton, so as to 
make the equality of impressions on the ear dis- 
tinctly perceptible at the end of every line ; if by 
making this pause, w r e make the pauses that mark 
the sense less perceptible, we exchange a solid 
advantage for a childish rhythm, and, by endea- 
vouring to preserve the name of verse, lose all 
its meaning and energy. 

Rule VI. In order to form a cadence in a 
period in rhyming verse, we must adopt the fall- 
ing inflection with considerable force, in the cae- 
sura of the last line but one. 

EXAMPLE. 

One science only will one genius fit, 
So vast is art, so narrow human wit ; 
Not only bounded to peculiar arts, 
But oft in those confin'd to single parts ; 
Like kings we lose the conquests gain'd before, 
Ity vain ambition still to mate them more ; 
Each might his sev'ral province \\ well command, 
Would all but stoop to what they understand- 
Ill repeating these lines, we shall find it neces- 
sary to form the cadence, by giving the falling 
inflection with a little more force than common 
to the word province. The same may be ob- 
served of the word prospect, in the last line but 
one of the following passage : 

So pleas'd at first the tow'ring Alps we try, 
Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky ; 



140 



ELEMENTS OF 



Th' eternal snows appear already past, 

And the first clouds and mountains seem the last ; 

But those attain'd, we tremble to survey 

The growing labours of the lengthened way; 

Th' increasing prospect li tires our wand'ring eyes, 

Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise. 

Rule VII. A simile in poetry ought always to 
be read in a lower tone of voice than that part of 
the passage which precedes it. 

EXAMPLE. 

'Twas then great Marib'rough's mighty soul was provM 
That in the shock of charging hosts unmov'd, 
Amidst confusion, horror, and despair, 
Examin'd all the dreadful scenes of war. 
In peaceful thought the field of death survey'd, 
To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid; 
lnspir'd repuis'd battalions to engage, 
And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. 
So when an angel, by divine command 
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land, 
(Such as of late o'er pale Britannia past,) 
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast; 
And, pleas'd th'A lmighty's orders to perform, 
Rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm. Addison^ 

Rule jVIII. Where there is no pause in the 
sense at the end of the verse, the last word must 
have exactly the same inflection it would have in 
prose. 

EXAMPLE. 

O'er their heads a chfystal firmamenl, 
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure* 
Amber, and colours of the show'ry arch. Milton, 

* This, it is presum'd is an instance, that a pause of suspension 
may sometimes be improper at the end of a line. See pages 255, 
255. 



ELOCUTION. 541 

In this example, the word pure must have the 
falling inflection, whether we make any pause at 
it or not, as this is the inflection the word would 
have if the sentence were pronounced prosaically. 
For the same reason the words retired and went, 
in the following example, must be pronounced 
with the rising inflection. 

At his command th' uprooted hills retii*'d 
Each to his place; they heard his voice and went 
Obsequious ; heav'n his wonfed face renew'd, 
And with fresh flow'rets hill and valley smil'd. 

Rule IX. Sublime, grand, and magnificent 
description in poetry, frequently requires a lower 
tone of voice, and a sameness nearly approaching 
to a monotone, to give it variety. 

This rule will surprise many who have always 
been taught to look upon a monotone or same- 
ness of voice as a deformity in reading. A de- 
formity it certainly is, when it arises either from 
a want of power to alter the voice, or a want of 
judgment to introduce it properly ; but I presume 
it may be with confidence affirmed, that when it 
is introduced with propriety, it is one of the 
greatest embellishments of poetic pronunciation. 
Kay, a monotone connected with preceding and 
succeeding inflections, is a real variety, and is 
exactly similar to a succession of the same iden- 
tical notes in music ; which, considered apart, is 
perfectly monotonous, but, taken with what goes 
before and follows, is among the finest beauties 
of composition. 

F f 2 




342 ELEMENTS OF 

The use of the monotone has already been ex 
emplified, page 102, in the grand description of 
Satan's throne, at the beginning of the Second 
Book of Paradise Lost, and may be farther illus- 
trated by a passage of the Allegro of the same 
poet. 

Hence ! loath'd Melancholy, 

Of Cerberus, arid blackest Midnight born, 
In Stygian cave forlorn, 

"Mongst horrid shapes and shrieks, and sights unholy. 
Find out some uncouth cell, 

Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wings, 
And the night raven sings; 

There, under ebon shades and low-brow\l rocks, 
As ragged as thy locks, 

In dark Cimmerian desart ever dwell- 

In repeating this passage, we shall find the 
darkness and horror of the cell wonderfully aug- 
mented, by pronouncing the eighth line, 

" There, under ebon shades, and lo\r-brow\l rocks," 

in a low monotone ; which monotone may not be 
improperly signified, by the horizontal line gene- 
rally used to mark long quantity ; as this line is 
perfectly descriptive of a sameness of tone ; as 
the acute and grave accent are of variety. 



Modulation of the Voice. 

After a perfect idea is attained of the pause, 
emphasis, and inflection, with which we ought to 
pronounce every word, sentence, interrogation., 



ELOCUTION. 



343 



climax, and different figure ef speech, it will be 
absolutely necessary to be acquainted with the 
power, variety, and extent of the instrument, 
through which we convey them to others; for 
unless this instrument be in a proper pitch, what- 
ever we pronounce will be feeble and unnatural ; 
as it is only in a certain pitch that the voice can 
command the greatest variety of tones, so as to 
utter them with energy and ease. 

Every one has a certain pitch of voice, in 
which he is most easy to himself, and most agree- 
able to others ; this may be called the natural 
pitch : this is the pitch in which we converse ; 
and this must be the basis of every improvement 
we acquire from art and exercise : for such is the 
force . of exercise upon the organs of speech, as 
well as every other in the human body, that con- 
stant practice will strengthen the voice in any 
key we use it to, even though this happen not 
to be the most natural and easy at first. This is 
abundantly proved by the strong vociferation 
which the itinerant retailers in the streets acquire 
after a few years practice. Whatever key they 
happen to pitch upon at first is generally pre- 
served ; and the voice in that note becomes won- 
derfully strong and sonorous : but as the Specta- 
tor humorously observes, their articulation is 
generally so indistinct, that we understand what 
they sell, not so much by the words as the tune. 
As constant exercise is of such importance to 
strengthen the voice, care should be taken, that 
we exercise it on that part where it has naturally 



344 ELEMENTS OF 



mid- 
;e of. 



the greatest power and variety : this is the mi< 
die tone ; the tone we habitually make use 
when we converse with, or speak to persons at a 
moderate distance ; for if we call out to one who 
is so far off as to be almost out of hearing, we 
naturally raise our voice to a higher key, as well 
as swell it upon that key to a much greater de- 
gree of loudness ; as, on the contrary, if we wish 
to be heard only by a single person in company, 
we naturally let fall our voice into a low key, and 
abate the force of it, so as to keep it from being 
heard by any but the person we are speaking to. 

In this situation, nature dictates ; but the situa- 
tion of the public speaker is a situation of ait ; he 
not only wishes to be heard, but to be heard with 
energy and ease ; for this purpose his voice must 
be powerful in that key which is easiest to him, 
in that which he will most naturally fall into, and 
which he will certainly have the most frequent 
occasion to use ; and this is the middle tone. 

But before we enter farther on this subject, it 
seems absolutely necessary to obviate a very com- 
mon mistake with respect to the voice, which 
may lead to an incurable error ; and that is the 
confounding of high and low with loud and soft. 
These plain differences are as often jumbled to- 
gether as accent and quantity, though to much 
worse purpose. Our mistaking of accent for 
quantity when we converse about it, makes not 
the least alteration in on * speaking ; but if, when 
we ought only to be louder, we raise our voice 
to a higher key, our tones become shrill and 



ELOCUTION. 345 

feeble, and frustrate the very intention of speak- 
ing- 

Those who understand ever so little of music, 

know that high and loud, and soft and low, are 
by no means necessarily connected ; and that we 
may be very soft in a high note, and very loud in 
a low one ; just as a smart stroke on a bell may 
have exactly the same note as a slight one, though 
it is considerably louder. But to explain this 
difference to those who are unacquainted with 
music, we may say, that a high tone is that we 
naturally assume when we wish to be heard at a 
distance, as the same degree of force is more 
audible in a high, than in a low tone, from the 
acuteness of the former, and the gravity of the 
latter ; and that a low tone is that we naturally 
assume when we are speaking to a person at a 
small distance, and wish not to be heard by 
others ; as a low tone with the same force is less 
audible than a high one ; if, therefore, we raise 
our voice to the pitch we should naturally use if 
we were calling to a person at a great distance, 
and at the same time exert so small a degree of 
force as to be heard only by a person who is near 
us, we shall have an example of a high note in a 
soft tone ; and on the contrary, if we suppose 
ourselves speaking to a person at a small dis- 
tance, and wish to be heard by those who are at 
a greater, in this situation we shall naturally sink 
the voice into a low note, and throw just as much 
.force or loudness into it as is necessary to make 
• it audible to the persons at a distance. This is 



345 



ELEMENTS OF 



exactly the manner which actors speak the 
speeches that are spoken aside. The low tone 
conveys the idea of speaking to a person near us, 
and the loud tone enables us to convey this idea 
to a distance. By this experiment we perceive, 
that high and loud, and soft and low, though 
most frequently associated, are essentially distinct 
from each other. 

Such, however, is the nature of the human 
voice, that to begin in the extremes of high and 
low are not equally dangerous. The voice na- 
turally slides into a higher tone, when we want 
to speak louder, but not so easily into a lower 
tone, when we would speak more softly. Expe- 
rience shows us, that we can raise our voice at 
pleasure to any pitch it is capable of; but the 
same experience tells us, that it requires infinite 
art and practice to bring the voice to a lower key 
when it is once raised too high. It ought there- 
fore to be a first principle with all public readers 
and speakers, rather to begin under the common 
level of their voice than above it. The attention 
of an auditory at the commencement of a lecture 
or oration, makes the softest accents of the 
speaker audible, at the same time that it affords 
a happy occasion for introducing a variety of 
voice, without which every address must soon 
tire. A repetition of the same subject a thou- 
sand times over, is not more tiresome to the un- 
derstanding, than a monotonous delivery of the 
most varied subject to the ear. Poets, to pro- 
duce variety, alter the structure of their verse 



ELOCUTION. 347 

and rather hazard uncouthness and discord than 
sameness. Prose writers change the style, turn, 
and structure of their periods, and sometimes 
throw in exclamations, and sometimes interroga- 
tions, to rouse and keep alive the attention ; but 
all this art is entirely thrown away, if the reader 
does not enter into the spirit of his author, and 
by a similar kind of genius, render even variety 
itself more various ; if he does not, by an altera- 
tion in his voice, manner, tone, gesture, loud- 
ness, softness, quickness, slowness, adopt every 
change of which the subject is susceptible. 

Every one, therefore, who would acquire a 
variety of tone in public reading or speaking, 
must avoid as the greatest evil a loud and voci- 
ferous beginning ; and for that purpose it would 
be prudent in a reader or speaker to adapt his 
voice as if only to be heard by the person who 
is nearest to him : if his voice has natural 
strength, and the subject any thing impassioned 
in it, a higher and louder tone will insensibly 
steal on him ; and his greatest address must be 
directed to keeping it within bounds. For this 
purpose it will be frequently necessary for him 
to recall his voice, as it were, from the extremi- 
ties of his auditory, and direct it to those who 
are nearest to him. This it will be proper to do 
almost at the beginning of every paragraph in 
reading, and at the introduction of every part of 
the subject in discourse. Nothing will so pow- 
erfully work on the voice, as supposing ourselves 



S48 



ELEMENTS OP 



conversing at different intervals with different 
parts of the audience. 

A celebrated writer on this subject directs a 
reader or speaker, upon his first addressing his 
auditory, to fix his eyes upon that part of them 
from which he is the farthest, and to pitch his 
voice so as to reach them. This, I fear would 
be attended with very ill consequences if the as- 
sembly w T ere very large ; as a speaker would be 
strongly tempted to raise his voice, as well as 
increase its force ; and by this means begin in a 
key much too high for the generality of his au- 
ditory, or for his own powers to continue it. The 
safest rule, therefore, is certainly to begin, as it 
were, with those of the assembly that are nearest 
to us ; and if the voice be but articulate, however 
low the key may be, it will still fee audible ; and 
those who have a sufficient strength of voice for 
a public auditory, find it so much more difficult 
to bring down than raise the pitch, that they 
will not wonder I employ my chief care to guard 
against an error by far the most common, as well 
as the most dangerous. 

Much, undoubtedly, will depend on the size 
and structure of the place we speak in : some are 
so immensely large, as many of our churches and 
cathedrals, that the voice is nearly as much dis- 
sipated as in the open air ; and often with the ad- 
ditional inconvenience of a thousand confused 
echos and re-echos. Here a loud and vociferous 
speaker will render himself unintelligible in pro- 
portion to his exertion of voice: as departing 



elocution. 349 

and commencing sounds will encounter each 
other, and defeat every intention of distinctness 
and harmony. 

Nothing but good articulation will make a 
speaker audible in this situation, and a judicious 
attention to that tone of voice which is most 
suitable to the size and imperfections of the place. 
If the place we speak in be but small, it will be 
scarcely necessary to observe that the loudness 
of the voice should be in proportion. Those 
who have not ears sufficiently delicate to discern 
the true quantity of sound necessary to fill the 
place they speak in, ought to take every possible 
method to acquire so essential a qualification. A 
knowledge of music, many trials of different de- 
grees of loudness, and the friendly criticism of 
good judges, may do much towards acquiring 
this accomplishment ; and it must ever be re- 
membered, that high and low are essentially dis- 
tinct from loud and soft ; as we may with the ut- 
most propriety be at the highest note of our 
voice in the smallest room, provided we are not 
too loud, and use the lowest part of our voice in 
the largest, provided we are not too soft and in- 
distinct to be heard. 

In order to reduce the foregoing observations 
to practice, it may not be unprofitable to attend 
to the following rules. 

Rule I. To gain a habit of lowering the voice, 
it will be necessary to drop the voice to a lower 
key upon the end of one sentence, and to com- 
mence the next sentence in the same low key 



350 



ELEMENTS OF 



with which we concluded the former ; for this 
purpose, it will be necessary to select sentences 
.where this pronunciation is eligible, and practice 
upon them. • 

EXAMPLES. 

Our sight is the most perfect and most delightful of all em* 
senses. It fills the mind with the largest variety of ideas, con- 
verses with its objects at the greatest distance, and continues the 
longest in action without being tired or satiated with its proper 
enjoyments. The sense of feeling can indeed give us a notion of 
extension, shape, and all other ideas that enter at the eye, except 
colours ; but at the same time it is very much straitened and con- 
fined in its operations to the number, bulk, and distance of its 
particular objects. Sped. No. 411 

I shall first consider those pleasures of the imagination which 
arise from the actual view and survey of outward objects ; and 
these, I think, all proceed from the sight of what is great, uncom- 
mon, or beautiful. There may, indeed, be something so terrible 
or offensive that the horror or loathsomeness of the object may 
overbear the pleasure which results from its greatness, novelty, 
or beauty; but still there will be such a mixture of delight in the 
very disgust it gives us, as any of these three qualifications are 
most conspicuous and prevailing. Spect. No. 412. 

The sense of feeling, in the first example, and 
there may indeed, in the second, may very pro- 
perly commence in a low tone of voice, as this 
tone is generally suitable to the concession con- 
tained in each of the sentences. * 

Similes in poetry form proper examples for 
gaining a habit of lowering the voice. 

EXAMPLE. 

He above the rest, 
In shape and gesture proudly eminent, ,. 
Stood like a tow'r. His form had not yet lost 
JU1 her original brightness, nor appear'4 



ELOCUTION. 



351 



Less than archangel ruin'd and th' excess 

Of glory obscur'd ; as when the sun new ris'n 

Looks through the horizontal misty air 

Shorn of his beams : or from behind the moon 

In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds 

On half the nations, and with fear of change 

Perplexes monarchs. Milton's Parad. Lost, 

In this example are two similes in succession ; 
and it may be observed, that in order to pro- 
nounce them properly, the voice ought to be 
twice lowered ; that is, on the first simile at as 
when the sun, and then at or from behind the 
moon, which last simile must be in a lower tone 
of voice than the former, and both nearly in a 
monotone. 

Rule II. This lowering of the voice will be 
greatly facilitated if we begin the words we wish 
to lower the voice upon, in a monotone, or same- 
ness of sound, approaching to that produced by 
repeatedly striking the same key of a harpsichord. 
Thus in the following passage from Dr. Aken- 
side's Pleasures of Imagination : 

With what attractive charms this goodly frame 
Of nature, touches the consenting hearts 
Of mortal men ; and what the pleasing stores 
Which beauteous imitation thence derives, 
To deck the poet's or the painter's toil, 
My verse unfolds. Attend ye g*entle pow'rs 
Of musical delight ! and while I sing 
. Your gifts, your honours, dance around my strain. 
Thou, smiling queen of every tuneful breast, 
Indulgent Fancy ; from the fruitful banks 
Of Avon, whence thy rosy fingers guII 
Fresh flow'rs, and dews, to sprinkle on the turf ' 
Where Shakspeare iies, be present : and with thee 
Let Fiction come upon her vagrant wing, 
Wafting ten thousand colours through the air 



35% • ELEMENTS OF 

And by the glances of her magic eye, 

Combining each in endless fairv forms 

Her wild Creation. Goddess of the lyre, 

"Which rules the accents of the moving sphere. 

Wilt thou, eternal Harmony, descend, 

And join this festive train I for with thee comes 

The guide, the guardian of their lovely sports, 

Majestic Truth ; and where Truth deigns to come 

Her sister Liberty will not be far. 

Be present all ye Genii, who conduct 

The wand'ring footsteps of the youthful bard, 

New to your springs and shades : who touch his ear 

With finer sounds; who heighten to his eye 

The bloom of nature, and before him turn 

The gayest, happiest, attitudes of things. 

Pleasures of Imagination, Book L 

This exordium consists of an invocation of se- 
veral poetic powers, each of which ought to be 
addressed in a manner somewhat different ; but 
none of them admits of a difference sufficient to 
give a variety to a long paragraph, except that of 
Eternal harmony: and this from its nature re- 
quires a solemn monotone in a much lower key 
than the rest i if therefore we pronounce the 
words, 

Goddess of the lyre, 
Which rules the accents of the moving sphere : 

If, I say, we pronounce these words in a low 
monotone, without any inflection of voice on 
them ; we shall throw a great variety into the 
whole invocation, and give it at the same time 
that expression which the importance of the sub- 
ject demands. 

Rule III. As few voices are perfect ; those 
which have a good bottom often wanting a top, 



ELOCUTION. 353 

and inversely ; care should be taken to improve 
by practice that part of the voice which is most 
deficient : for instance ; if we want to gain a bot- 
tom, we ought to practice speeches which require 
exertion, a little below the common pitch ; when 
we can do this with ease, we may practice them 
on a little lower note, and so on till we are as low 
as we desire ; for this purpose, it will be neces. 
sary to repeat such passages as require a full 
audible tone of voice in a low key : of this kind 
is the speech of king John to Hubert, where he 
takes him aside, and tempts him to undertake the 
death of prince Arthur : 

Come hither, Hubert. O, my gentle Hubert^ 
We owe thee much ; within this wall of flesh 
There is a soul counts thee her creditor, 
And with advantage means to pay thy love. 
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath 
Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished. 
Give me thy hand, 1 had a thing to say — • 
But I will fit it with some better time. 
By heav'n, Hubert, I'm almost asham'd 
To say what good respect I have of thee. 

Bub. I am much bounded to your majesty. 

K. John. Good friend, thou hast no cause to say se yetj 
But thou shalt have — and creep time ne'er so slow, 
Yet it shall come for me to do thee good. 
I had a thing to say, — but let it go; 
The sun is in the heav'n, and the proud day 
Attended with the pleasures of the world, 
Is all too wanton and too full of gaudes 
To give me audience. If the midnight bell 
Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth '• i * 

Sound one unto the drowsy race of night ; 
If this same were a church-yard where we stand J(# 
And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs ; 
Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes, 
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply- 
Without a tongue, using conceit alone, 

G g2 



354 ELEMENTS OF 

Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words, 
Then in despight of broad-ey'd watchful day 
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts . 
But, ah ! I will not — yet 1 love thee well, 
And by my troth, I think thou lov'st me well 
Hub. So well, that wnat you bid me undertake, 
j Though that my death were adjunct to my act, 
By heav'n I'd do't. 

K. John. Do I not know that thou wouldst ? 
Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye 
On that youug boy : I'll tell thee what, my friensl* 
He is a very serpent in my way, 
And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread, 
He lies before me. Do'st thou understand me ? 
Thou art his keeper. 

Hub. And I'll keep him so, 
That he shall not offend your majesty. 
K. John. Death. 
Hub. My Lord ? 
K. John. A grave. 
Hub. He shall not live. 
K. John. Enough. 
I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee ; 
"Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee ; 
Remember. Shakspeare's Kmg Johi y Act iii. Scene 5. 

I have quoted so much of this fine passage, be^ 
cause I think almost every part of it affords an 
opportunity of practising to speak with force and 
energy upon a lower tone of the voice ; for the 
whole scene may be considered as only an ear- 
nest whisper ; but as this whisper must be heard 
by a whole audience it is necessary, while we 
lower the pitch, to add to the force of the voice : 
this, however, is no easy operation, and none but 
good readers and consummate actors, can do it 
perfectly. It is no very difficult matter to be 
loud in a high tone of voice ; but to be loud and 
forcible in a low tone, requires great practice and 
management ; this, however, may be facilitated 



ELOCUTION, 355 

by pronouncing forcibly at first in a low mono- 
tone ; a monotone, though in a low key, and 
without force, is much more sonorous and audi- 
ble than when the voice slides up and down at 
almost every word, as it must do to be various. 
This tone is adopted by actors when they repeat 
passages aside. They are to give the idea of 
speaking to themselves, in such a manner as not 
to be heard by the person with them on the stage, 
and yet must necessarily be heard by the whole 
theatre. The monotone in a low key answers 
both these purposes. It conveys the idea of 
being inaudible to the actors with them in the 
scene, by being in a lower tone than that used in 
the dialogue ; and by being in a monotone be- 
comes audible to the whole house. The mono- 
tone, therefore, becomes an excellent vehicle for 
such passages as require force and audibility in 
a low tone, and in the hands of a judieious reader 
or speaker is a perpetual source of variety. 

Rule IV. When we would strengthen the 
voice in a higher note, it will be necessary to 
practice such passages as require a high tone of 
voice ; and if we find the voice grow thin, or 
approach to a squeak upon the high note, it will 
be proper to swell the voice a little below this 
high note, and to give it force and audibility by 
throwing it into a sameness of tone approaching 
the monotone. A speech of Titus Quintius to 
the Roman people, ironically encouraging them 
to the greatest excesses, is a good praxis for the 
higher tone of voice. 



$56 ELEMENTS OP 

When you are to contend with us, you can seize the Aventine 
all, you can possess yourselves of the Mons Sacer, the enemy is 
at our gates, the JEsquilineis near being- taken, and nobody stirs 
to hinder it. But against us you are valiant, against us you can 
arm with all diligence. Come on then, besiege the Senate house, 
make a camp of the forum, fill the jails with our chief nobles, and 
when you have atchieved these glorious exploits, then at the least, 
sally out at the iEsquiline gate with the same fierce spirits against 
the enemy. Does your resolution fail you for this ? Go then, and 
behold from our walls, your lands ravished, your houses plunder- 
ed and in flames, the whole country laid waste with fire and 
sword. Have you any thing here to repair these dmages ? Will 
the tribunes make up your losses to you ? They will give you 
words as many as you please ; bring impeachments in abundance 
against the prime men of the state ; heap laws upon laws ; assem- 
blies you shall have without end ; but will any of you return the 
richer from these assemblies ? Extinguish, O Romans ! these fatal 
divisions ; generously break this cursed enchantment, which keeps 
you buried in scandalous inaction. — Open your eyes, and consider 
the management of those ambitious men, who to make themselves 
powerful in their party, study nothing but how they may foment 
divisions in the commonwealth. 

There are few voices so strong in the upper 
notes as to be able to pronounce this speech with 
the spirit it demands ; care must be taken there- 
fore, particularly in the ironical parts, to keep the 
voice from going too high, for which purpose it 
ought to approach to monotone in the high notes 
required upon the words — against us you arc 
valiant— against us you can arm -with all dili- 
gence — and particularly upon the questions — 
Does your resolution fail you for this ? Have you 
any thing here to repair these damages ? Will 
the tribunes make up your losses to you ? And 
the same conduct of the voice must be observed 
upon the four succeeding ironical members. 

But no exercise will be so proper to inure the 
voice to high notes as frequenly to pronounce a 



ELOCUTION. 



357 



succession of questions, which require the ri- 
sing inflection of voice at the end. Such is that 
instance of a succession of questions ending with 
the rising inflection, in the Oration of Demost- 
henes on the Crown. See p. 140. 

What was the part of a faithful citizen? Of a prudent, an ae* 
tive, an honest minister ? W T as he not to secure Euboea, as our 
defence against all attacks by sea ? Was he nGt to make Boeotia 
our barrier on the midland side ? The cilies bordering on Pelopon- 
nesus, our bulwark on that quarter ? Was he not to attend with, 
due precaution to the importation of corn, that this trade might 
be protected through all its progress up to our own harbour ? 
Wa9 he not to cover those districts, which we commanded by 
seasonable detachments, as the Proconesus, the Chersonesus, 
aud Tenedos ? To exert himself in the assembly for this purpose ? 
While with equal zeal he laboured to gain others to our interest 
and alliance, as Byzantium, Abydus, and Euboea ? Was he not 
to cut off the best and most important resources of our enemies fl 
and to supply those in which our country was defective ? — And 
all this you gained by my counsels and my administration. 

LelancTs Demosthenes on the Crown* 

It will naturally occur to every judicious read- 
er, that this series of questions ought to rise 
gradually in force as they proceed, and therefore 
it will be necessary to keep the voice under at 
the beginning : to which this observation may be 
added, that as the rising inflection ought to be 
adopted on each question, the voice will be very 
apt to get too high near the end ; for which pur- 
pose it will be necessary to swell the voice a little 
below its higest pitch ; and if we cannot rise with 
ease and clearness on every particular to the last, 
we ought to augment the force on each, that the 
whole may form a species of climax. 

Rule V". When we would strengthen the 



359 



ELEMENTS OF 



voice in the middle tone, it will be necessary to 
exercise the voice on very passionate speeches by 
pronouncing them in a loud tone, without suffer- 
ing the voice to rise with force, but preserving 
all the energy and loudness we are able, in the 
middle tone of voice. 

The challenge of Macbeth to Banquo's ghost, 
is a proper passage for this exercise of the middle 
tone of voice. 

What man dare I dare : 
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, 
The arm'd rhinoceros or Hyrcanian tyger ; 
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves 
Shall never tremble. Be alive again, 
And dare me to the desart with thy sword ; 
If trembling I inhibit, then protest me 
The baby of a girl Hence, horrible shadow, 
Unreal mock' 1 '' hence ! 

- — ■ *j> 

Rule VI. When we have exerted the voice to 
fe highest pitch, it will be necessary to bring it 
down to a lower, by beginning the succeeding 
sentence in a lower tone of voice, if the nature of 
the sentence will permit ; and if we are speaking 
extempore, it will be proper to form the sentence 
in such a manner as to make it naturally require 
a lower tone. A good praxis for recovering the 
voice when it is carried to its utmost pitch is the 
furious resentment and indignation of Posthu- 
mus against himself for giving credit to the infi- 
delity of Imogen. 

Jachimo. This Posthumus — methinks I see him now — 
Post . Ay, so thou dost, 
Italian fiend ! ah me, nioSt credulous fool, 



ELOCUTION. v^y 

Egregious murderer, thief, any thing-, 
That's due to all the villains past, in being, 
To come — oh give me cord, or knife, or poison, 
Some upright justicer ? Thou king, send out 
For torturers ingenious ; it is I 
That all th' abhorred things o'th'earth amend 
By being worse than they. I am Posthumus 
That kill'd thy daughter ; villain-like I lye, 
That caus'd a lesser villian than myself, 

I A sacriligious thief to do't. The temple 

Of virtue was she, yea, and she herself — 
Spit and throw stones, cast mire upon me, set 
The dogs o'th' street to bait me : every villain 
Becall'd Posthumus Leonatus, and 
Be villainy less than 'twas. Oh ! Imogen, 
My queen, my life, my wife ! Oh Imogen, 
Imogen ! Imogen 1 

J In this example we find the fury of the passion 
I very apt to carry the voice too high, but the poet 
; has very judiciously thrown in breaks and al- 
terations in the passion, which gives the speaker 
an opportunity of lowering and altering his voice. 
Thus the voice is at its highest pitch of rage at to 
come, when the break and different shade of the 
same passion, at give me cord, &c. affords an 
opportunity of lowering the voice by means of a 
mixture of intreaty. The voice is at its utmost 
extent of height at kilVd thy daughter ; as in 
this passage he declares openly his guilt, in order 
to provoke his punishment; but in the next 
clause, villain like^ I lye, gives a different shade 
of force to the voice by a mixture of remorse. 
The next sentence — The temple of virtue, &c. 
has a regret and tenderness in it that affords an 
alteration of voice ; but as this alteration slides 
into extreme grief, in which the voice is very apt 



360 



ELEMENTS OF 



to go too high, the next sentence — Spit and 
throw stone y &c. — by the deep hatred it falls in- 
to, gives the speaker an opportunity of lowing and 
recovering the force of his voice, in order to con- 
clude with that force and tenderness which the lat- 
ter part of the speech necessarily requires. 
Thus, by properly distinguishing the different 
shades and mixtures of the passions, we not only 
produce variety, but afford the voice such resour- 
ces of energy, as can alone support it in the pro- 
nunciation. 

Rule VII. When we are speaking extempo- 
re, and have carried the voice to its extent in 
a high key, in order to bring it down to a lower, 
we ought, if possible, to adopt some passion 
which requires a low key ; such as shame, ha- 
tred, admonition, &c. as in the spirited speech 
of T. Quintius to the Roman people, quoted 
under Rule IV. 

The same may be observed of the speech of 
the Angel in Milton to Satan, 

Think we such toils, such cares disturb the peace 
Of heav'n's blest habitants ? alike I scorn 
Thy person, and imposture. Milton- 

The former part of this speech raises the voice 
to the highest pitch, and is finely relieved and 
contrasted by the low tone which scorn requires 
in the conclusion, 



ELOCUTION. 



Gesture. 



301 



Gesture, considered as a just and elegant adap- 
tation of every part of the body to the nature and 
import of the subject we are pronouncing, has 
always been considered as one of the most essen- 
tial parts of oratory. Its power, as Cicero ob- 
serves, is much greater than that of words. It 
is the language of nature in the strictest sense, 
and makes its way to the heart, without the ut- 
terance of a single sound. Ancient and modern 
orators are full of the power of action ; and action* 
as with the illustrious Grecian orator, seems to 
form the beginning, the middle, and end of ora- 
tory. 

Such, however, is the force of custom, that 
though we all confess the power and necessity of 
this branch of public speaking, we find few, in 
«ur own country at least, that are hardy enough 
to put it in practice. The most accomplished 
speakers in the British Senate are very faulty in 
their use of action, and it is remarkable that those 
who are excellent in every other part of oratory 
are very deficient in this. The truth is, though 
the reason of action in speaking is in the nature 
of things, the difficulty of acquiring the other 
requisites of an orator, and the still greater diffi- 
culty of attaining excellence in action, (which 
after all our pains is less esteemed than excel- 
lences of another kind) ; these, I say, seem to be 
the reasons why action is so little cultivated 
H h 



L 



\62 



ELEMENTS OF 



among us ; t® this we may add, that so different 
are national tastes in this particular, that hardlv 
any two people agree in the just proportion of 
this so celebrated quality of an orator. Perhaps 
the finished action of a Cicero or a Demosthenes, 
would scarcely be borne in our times, though 
accompanied with every other excellence. The 
Italians and French, though generally esteemed 
better public speakers than the English, appear 
to us to overcharge their oratory with action ; 
and some of their finest strokes of action would, 
perhaps, excite our laughter. The oratory, there- 
fore, of the Greeks and Romans in this point is as 
ill suited to a British auditor, as the accent and 
quantity of the ancients is to the English lan- 
guage. The common feelings of nature, with 
the signs that express them, undergo a kind of 
modification, whieh is suitable to the taste and 
genius of every nation ; and it is this national 
taste which must necessarily be the vehicle of 
every thing we convey agreeably to the public 
we belong to. Whether the action of the an- 
cients was excessive, or whether that of the En- 
glish be not too scanty, is not the question : those 
who would succeed as English orators must 
speak to English taste ; as a general must learn 
the modern exercise of arms to command mo- 
dern armies, and not the discipline and weapons 
of the ancients. 

But though the oratory of the moderns does 
not require all those various evolutions of gesture 
which was almost indispensable in the ancients, 



- 



ELOCUTION, 



163 



yet a certain degree of it must necessarily enter 
into the composition of every good speaker and 
reader. To be perfectly motionless while we are 
pronouncing words which require force and ener- 
gy, is not only depriving them of their necessary 
support, but rendering them unnatural and ridi- 
culous. A very vehement address pronounced 
without any motion but that of the lips and 
tongue, would be a burlesque upon the mean- 
ing, and produce laughter ; nay, so unnatural is 
this total absence of gesticulation, that it is not 
very easy to speak in this manner. 

As some action, therefore, must necessarily 
accompany our words, it is of the utmost conse- 
quence, that this be such as is suitable and na- 
tural. No matter how little, if it be but akin to 
the words and passion ; for if foreign to them, it 
counteracts and destroys the very intention of 
delivery. The voice and gesture may be said 
to be tuned to each other : and if they are in a 
different key, as it may be called, discord must 
inevitably be the consequence. An awkward 
action, and such as is unsuitable to the words 
and passion, is the body out of tune, and gives 
the eye as much pain as discord does the ear. 

In order therefore to gain a just idea of suitable 
action and expression, it will be necessary to 
observe that every passion, emotion, and senti- 
ment, has a particular attitude of the body, cast 
of the eye, and tone of the voice, that particularly 
belongs to that passion, emotion, or sentiment : 
these should be carefully studied, and practised 



;64 



ELEMENTS OF 



before a glass when we are alone ; and before a 
few friends, whose candour and judgment we 
can rely on. Some good piece of composition 
should then be selected, and every period or sen- 
tence be marked with that passion, emotion, or 
sentiment, indicated by the words, that the eye 
In reading may be reminded of the passion or 
sentiment to be assumed. These passions and 
emotions we should express with the utmost 
force and energy we are able, when we are alone, 
that we may wear ourselves into the habit of as- 
suming them easily in public. This forcible 
practice in private, will have the same effect on 
our public deliver}', that dancing a minuet has 
on our general air and deportment. What Pope 
says of writing is perfectly applicable to action 
in oratory. 

True ease in action comes from art, not chance, 
As those m«ve easiest who have learn'd to dance. 

Ta descend, however, to a few of those particu- 
lars, to which it seems the most necessary to at- 
tend ; it may not be improper to take notice, that 
in reading much less action is required than in 
speaking. When we read to a few persons only 
In private, it may not be useless to observe that 
we should accustom ourselves to read standing; 
that the book should be held in the left hand; 
that we should take our eyes as often as possible 
from the book and direct them to those that hear 
us. The three or four last words, at least of 



ELOCUTION. 



365 



every paragraph, or branch of a subject, should 
be pronounced with the eye pointed to one of 
the auditors. When any thing sublime, lofty, 
or heavenly, is expressed, the eye and the right 
hand may be very properly elevated ; and when 
any thing low, inferior, or grovelling is referred 
to, the eye and hand may be directed downwards: 
when any thing distant or extensive is mentioned, 
the hand may naturally describe the distance or 
extent ; and when conscious virtue, or any heart* 
felt emotion, or tender sentiment occurs, we may 
as naturally put the right hand on the breast, 
exactly over the heart. 

In speaking extempore, we should be sparing 
of the use of the left hand, which may not un- 
gracefully hang down by the side, and be suf- 
fered to receive that small degree of motion 
which will necessarily be communicated to it by 
the action of the right hand. The right hand, 
when in action, ought to rise extending from the 
side, that is, in a direction from left to rigkt ; and 
then be propelled forwards, with the fingers open, 
and easily and differently curved : the arm should 
move chiefly from the elbow, the hand seldom 
be raised higher than the shoulder, and when it 
has described its object, or enforced its emphasis, 
ought to drop lifeless down to the side, ready to 
commence action afresh. The utmost care must 
be taken to keep the elbow from inclining to the 
body, and to let the arms, when not hanging at 
rest by the side, approach to the action we caji 
a-kimbow ; we must be cautious too, in all action 
H h 2 



366 ELEMENTS OF 

but such as describes extent or circumference, 
to keep the hand, or lower part of the arm, from 
cutting the perpendicular line that divides the 
body into right and left ; but above all, we must 
be careful to let the stroke of the hand which 
marks force, or emphasis, keep exact time with, 
the force of pronunciation ; that is, the hand must 
go down upon the emphatical word, and no 
other : Thus in the execration of Brutus, in Ju- 
lius Csesar : 

When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous. 
To lock such rascal-counters from his friends, 
Be ready gods with all your thunderbolts, 
Dash him in pieces. 

Here the action of the arm which enforces the 
emphasis ought to be so directed, that the stroke 
of the hand may be given exactly on the word 
dash; this will give a concomitant action to the 
organs of pronunciation, and by this means the 
whole expression will be greatly augmented... 
This action may be called beating time to the- 
emphasis, and is as necessary in forcible and 
harmonious speaking, as the agreement between 
the motion of the feet, and the music in dancing.^ 

These are some of the simplest and most ne- 
cessary directions, and such as may be followed 
wkk the greatest safety : observing the action of 
\ 

* For a simple outline of action, as it may be called, it is pre- 
sumed the Elements of Gesture, prefixed to the Academic Speaker, 
will be found highl* useful; as the directions there given are il- 
lustrated by plates describing the several positions of the body, 
legs* 4P«? *ad hands, in a graceful and forcible delivery. 



ELOCUTION. 



367 



the best readers and speakers may, with some 
cautions, be recommended to youth ; but cannot 
with the same safety be proposed to those who, 
by long practice, are confirmed in habits of their 
own ; it may, instead of a modest and negative 
kind of awkwardness, which is scarcely offensive, 
substitute a real and disgusting kind of mimick- 
iy ; and this, by every person of the least taste, 
will be looked upon as a bad exchange. 

To the generality of readers and speakers, 
therefore, it may be proposed to make use of no 
more action than they can help. If they arc 
really in earnest, as they ought to be, some ges- 
ticulation will naturally break out; and if it be 
kept within bounds, it will always be tolerable* 
A man's own feelings will often tell him how far 
he may venture with safety ; for in that situation 
which he finds the easiest to himself, he will ap- 
pear most agreeable to his auditory. Such a 
sympathy do we find between speaker and hearer, 
that the one cannot be in an awkward situation, 
without communicating a feeling of it to the 
other. 

Thus have we endeavoured to delineate tlipse 
outlines, which nothing but good sense and tastp- 
will fill up. The more distinctly these lines arc 
marked, the easier will be the finishing,; aucGf, 
instead of leaving so much to taste, as is gener- 
ally done, we were to push as far as possible our 
inquiries into those principles of truth and beau- 
ty, in delivery, which are immutable and eternal ; 
if, I say, we were to mark carefully, the se^inj- 



368 ELEMENTS OF 

ingly infinite variety of voice and gesture in 
speaking and reading, and compare this variety 
with the various senses and passions of which 
they are expressive ; from the simplicity of na- 
ture in her other operations, we have reason to 
hope, that they might be so classed and arranged, 
as to be of much easier attainment, and produc- 
tive of much certainty and improvement, in the 
very difficult acquisition of a just and agreeable 
delivery. 



The Passions. 

It now remains to say something of those 
tones which mark the passions and emotions or 
the speaker. These are entirely independent on 
the modulation of the voice, though often con- 
founded with it : for modulation relates only to 
speaking either loudly or softly, in a high or a 
low key ; while the tones of the passions or emo- 
tions mean only that quality of sound that indi- 
cates the feelings of the speaker, without any re- 
ference to the pitch or loudness of his voice ; and 
it is in being easily susceptible of every passion 
and emotion that presents itself, and being able 
to express them with that peculiar quality of 
sound w T hich belongs to them, that the great art 
of reading and speaking consists. When \vc 
speak our own words, and are really impassioned 



* 



ELOCUTION. 



369 



by the occasion of speaking, the passion or emo- 
tion precedes the words, and adopts such tones 
as are suitable to the passion we feel ; but when 
we read, or repeat from memory, the passion is 
to be taken up as the words occur ; and in doing 
this well, the whole difficulty of reading or re- 
peating from memory lies. 

But it will be demanded, how are we to ac- 
quire that peculiar quality of sound that indi- 
cates the passion we wish to express ? The an- 
swer is easy : by feeling the passion which ex- 
presses itself by that peculiar quality of sound, 
But the question will return, how are we to ac- 
quire a feeling of the passion ? The answer to 
this question is rather discouraging, as it will 
advise those who have not a power of impassion- 
ing themselves upon reading or expresssing 
some very pathetic passage, to turn their studies 
to some other department of learning where na- 
ture may have been more favourable to their 
wishes. But is there no method of assisting us 
in acquiring the tone of the passion we want to 
express ; no method of exciting the passion in 
ourselves when we wish to express it to others ? 
The advice of Quintilian and Cicero on this oc- 
casion, is, to represent to our imagination, in the 
most lively manner possible, all the most striking 
circumstances of the transaction we describe, or 
of the passion we wish to feel. " Thus," says 
Quintilian, *' If I complain of the fate of a man 
" who has been assassinated, may I not paint in 
" my mind a lively picture of all that has pro- 



370 



ELEMENTS OF 



" bably happened on the occasion ? Shall not the 
" assassin appear to rush forth suddenly from his 
" lurking-place ; Shall not the other appear 
" seized with horrors? Shall he not cry out, 
" beg his life, or fly to save it ? Shall not I see 
" the assassin dealing the deadly blow, and the 
" defenceless wretch falling dead at his feet? 
" Shall not I figure to my mind, and by a lively 
" impression, the blood gushing from his 
" wounds, his ghastly face, his groans, and the 
" last gasp he fetches ?" 

This must be allowed to be a very natural 
method of exciting an emotion in the mind ; but 
still the woes of others, whether real or fictitious, 
will often make but a weak impression on our 
own mind, and will fail of affecting us with a 
sufficient force to excite the same emotions in 
the minds of our hearers. In this exigence, it 
may not, perhaps, be unprofitable, to call to our 
assistance the device of the ancient Grecian ac- 
tor Polus ; who, when he had the part of Electra 
to perform, and was to represent that princess 
weeping over the ashes of her brother Orestes, 
ordered the urn which contained the ashes of 
his dear and only son to be brought upon the 
stage, and by this means excited in himself the 
pitch of grief with which he wished to affect his 
audience. 

Calling to mind, therefore, such passages of 
our own life as are similar to those we read or 
speak of, will, if I am not mistaken, considerably 
assist us in gaining that fervor and warmth of 



ELOCUTION, 



371 



expression, which, by a certain sympathy, is 
sure to affect those who hear us. 

But our natural feelings are not always to be 
commanded ; and, when they are, stand in need 
of the regulation and embellishments of art : it is 
the business, therefore, of every reader and speak- 
er in public, to acquire such tones and gestures 
as nature gives to the passions; that he may be 
able to produce the semblance of them when he 
is not actually impassioned. The feelings of 
men, when unpremeditatedly impassioned, will 
do wonders. We seldom hear a person express 
love, rage, or pity, when the passions are produ- 
ced by a powerful object on the spot, without 
feeling in ourselves the workings of the passions 
thus instantaneously produced. Here the reality 
of the situation contributes greatly to our own 
feelings, as well as to the feelings of the speaker. 
The speech of a malefactor seldom fails to move 
us powerfully, however wretchedly delivered ; 
and a person really in the agonies of passion 
moves us irresistibly. But these are situations 
very different from the reader and speaker in 
public. The reader has always a fictitious or 
absent passion to exhibit ; and the public 
speaker must always produce his passion at a 
certain time and place, and in a certain or- 
der ; and in this situation it is generally sup- 
posed by our best critics, that an excess of 
feeling, such as we have when unpremeditately 
actuated by strong passions, would render us in- 
capable of expressing ourselves, so as properly 






372 



ELEMENTS OF 



to affect others. I have ray self seen Powel, in 
the character of George Barnwell, so overwhelm- 
ed with grief in that pathetic address, 

Be warn'd, ye youths who see my sad despair, &c. 

as to be incapable of expressing himself in the 
most pathetic manner to the audience. Howev- 
er this be, certain it is, we ought to study the ef- 
fects and appearances of the passions, that we may 
be able to exhibit them when we are not really 
impassioned ; and, when we are, to give passion 
its most agreeable expression. Mr. Burke has 
a very ingenious thought on this subject in his 
Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beauti- 
ful. He observes, that there is such a connex- 
ion between the internal feeling of a passion, 
and the external expression of it, that we cannot 
put ourselves in the posture or attitude of any 
passion, without communicating a certain degree 
of the passion itself to the mind. The same may 
be observed of the tone of voice which is pecu- 
liar to each passion : each passion produces an 
agitation of the body, which is accompanied by a 
-correspondent agitation of the mind : certain 
sounds naturally produce certain bodily agita- 
tions, similar to those produced by the passions £ 
and hence music has power over the mind, and 
can dispose it alternately to joy, or sorrow ; to 
pity, or revenge. W hen the voice, therefore, as- 
sumes that tone which a musician would produce 
in order to express certain passions or sentiments 






ELOCUTION. 



373 



in a song,— the speaker, like a performer on a 
musical instrument, is wrought upon by the 
sound which he creates ; and, though active at 
the beginning, at length becomes passive, by the 
sound of his own voice on himself. Hence it is, 
that though we frequently begin to read or speak, 
without feeling any of the passion we wish to ex- 
press, we often end in full possession of it. This 
may serve to show the necessity of studying and 
imitating those tones, looks, and gestures, that 
accompany the passions, that we may dispose 
ourselves to feel them mechanically, and improve 
our expression of them when w£ feel them spon- 
taneously ; for by the imitation of the passion, 
we meet it, as it were, half way. A passion well 
described, disposes us to tjie feeling of it, and 
greatly assists us in expressing it with force and 
propriety ; this shows the necessity of a good de- 
scription of the passions, and how much the art 
of speaking depends upon it. Those who feel 
the passions most powerfully, and unite with this 
feeling a power of describing their feelings, are 
those from whom we may expect the best pic- 
tures of what passes in the soul. For this rea- 
son, good poets are generally the best painters of 
the passions ; and for this reason too, we find the 
greatest orators have been most conversant with 
the best poets ; for though it is not the business 
©f the poet, like that of the philosopher, to enter 
into a logical definition of the origin, extent, and 
various relations of the passion he produces, he 
must, however feel it strongly, and express it 

I i 



374f ELEMENTS OF 

exactly as we see it in nature, or it will fail in its 
effect on the soul ; which in this case, jndges 
by a sort of instinct. This, it is presumed, will 
be a sufficient reason for drawing the examples 
that are given of the passions chiefly from the 
poets ; and of these, chiefly those in the dramatic 
line; as it is in these that the passions are- gene- 
rally the most delicately and forcibly touched. 

Aaron Hill, in his Essay on the Art of Act- 
ing, has made a bold attempt at such a descrip- 
tion of the passions as may enable an actor to 
adopt them mechanically, by shewing, that all the 
passions require either a braced or relaxed state 
of the sinews, and a peculiar cast of the eye. This 
system he has supported with much ingenuity ; 
but it were to be wished he had lived to give his 
©riginal idea the finishing he intended, and to have 
seen it combated by opposite opinions, that he 
might have removed several objections that lie 
against it, and render the truth of it doubtful. 
It must be owned, however, that this writer de- 
serves great praise for the mere attempt he lias 
made to form a new system, which, under some 
restrictions, may not be without its use. It is 
certain, that all the passions, when violent, brace 
the sinews ; grief, which, when moderate, may be 
said to melt or relax the frame, when ac- 
companied by anguish and bitter complain- 
ings, becomes active and bracing.* Pity 

* See Dr. Johnson's excellent remark upon the speech of La$y 
€onstantine in King John. Act Hi. sc. h 



5 



ELOCUTION. 



375 






seems never to rise to a sufficient degree of sor- 
row, to brace the sinews ; and anger, even in the 
slightest degree, seems to give a kind of tension 
to the voice and limbs. Thus, Shakspeare, as 
quoted by this writer, has given us an admirable 
picture of this passion in its violence, and has 
made this violent tension of the sinews a consid- 
erable part of its composition : 



Now imitate the action of the tyger ! 
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood ; 
Lend fierce and dreadful aspect to the eye ; 
Set the teeth close and stretch the nostril wide 5 
Hold hard the breath and bend up ev'ry spirit 
To its full height.— 

To this might be added r that admirable picture 
of violent anger which' Shakspeare puts in the 
mouth of Suffolk, in the second Part of Hen- 
ry VI. 

Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan, 
I would invent as bitter searching terms, 
As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear, 
Delivered strongly through my fixed teeth, 
With full as many signs of deadly hate 
As lean fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave. 
My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words, 
Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint, 
Mine hair be fixt on end like one distract, 
Ay, ev'ry joint should seem to curse and ban : 
And, even new my burden'd heart would break, 
Should I not curse them. — 

Who can read these admirable descriptions of 
anger without feeling his whole frame braced, 



376 ELEMENTS OF 

and his mind strongly tinctured with the passion 
delineated ! How much is it to be regretted that 
so great a master of the passions as Shakspeare, 
has not left us a description similar to this of ev- 
ery emotion of the soul ! But though he has not 
described every other passion like this, he has 
placed them all in such marking points of view 
as enables us to see the workings of the human 
heart from his writings, in a clearer and more 
affecting way than in any other of our poets ; and 
perhaps, the best description that could be given 
us of the passions in any language, maybe extract- 
ed from the epithets he has made use of. But to 
return to the system: Hill defines scorn to be 
negligent anger, and adds, "it is expressed by 
" languid muscles, with a smile upon the eye in 
"the light species, or a frown to hit the serious." 
The reason he gives for this expression is, " be- 
" cause* scorn insinuates by a voluntary slack- 
" ness, or disarming of the nerves, a known or a 
" concluded absence of all power in the insulted 
" object, even to make defence seem necessary." 
This seems a very accurate picture of the pas- 
sion, and the slackness of the nerves appears ne- 
cessarily to enter into the proper method of ex- 
pressing it. But, what are we to think of his defi- 
nition of Joy ! "Joy," says he, " is pride pos- 
sessed of triumph." No author I have ever yet 
met with, has supposed pride to be a necessary 
part of the composition of joy ; though a degree of 
joy may form part of the composition of pride. 



ELOCUTION. 377 

Pity, he defines to be active grief for another's af- 
flictions ; but this definition seems not to include 
the most leading trait of pity, which is, benevo- 
lence and love ; and though pity is always accom- 
panied with a degree of sorrow which often excites 
us to assist those we pity, yet pity is often bestow- 
ed on objects, we neither can nor endeavour to as- 
sist. The poets have always strongly marked this 
alliance between pity and love, and with great pro- 
priety. When Blandford tells Oroonoko. he 
pities him, Oroonoko answers 



•Do pity me ; 



Pity's akin to love, and every thought 
Of that soft kind is welcome to my soul. 

Oroonoko, Act. ii» 

And Dryden, in his Alexander's Feast, after de- 
. scribing the power of Timotheus in exciting his 
hero's pity for, the sad fate of Darius, says, 

The mighty master smil'd to see, 
That love was in the next degree ; 
'Twas but a kindred sound to move, 
For pity melts the soul to love. 

And Julia, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, 
says of Proteus, 

Because he loves her he despises me ; 

Because I love him, I must pity him. Act iv. 

Poets, who, where the passions are concerned, are 
I i 



378 ELEMENTS OF 

generally the best philosophers, constantly des- 
cribe love and pity as melting the soul : but how 
does this agree with the intense muscles with 
which Hill marks the expression of both these 
passions ? And how, according to this writer, 
can the muscles be intense and the eye languid 
at the same time, as he has described them in pi- 
ty ; or is it conceivable that the eye can express 
an emotion directly contrary to the feelings of 
the whole frame? The distinction, therefore, of 
braced and unbraced muscles, upon which his 
whole system turns, seems at best but a doubtful 
hypothesis ; and much too hidden and uncertain 
for the direction of so important a matter as the 
expression of the passions. 

In the display of the passions which I have 
adopted, nothing farther is intended, than such a 
description of them as may serve to give an ide£ 
of their external appearance, and such examples 
of their operations on the soul as may tend to 
awaken an original feeling of them in the breast 
of the reader. But it cannot be too carefully no- 
ted, that, if possible, the expression of every pas- 
sion ought' to commence within. The imagina- 
tion ought to be strongly impressed with the 
idea of an object which naturally excites it, be- 
fore the body is brought to correspond to it by suit- 
able gesture. This order ought never to be re - 
versed, except when the mind is too cold and 
languid to imbibe the passion first; and in this 
case, an adaptation of the body to an expression 
of the passion, will either help to excite the pas- 



ELOCUTION. 



379 



sion we wish to feel, or in some measure supply 
the absence of it. 

The two circumstances that most strongly 
mark the expression of passion, are the tone of 
the voice, and the external appearance of counte- 
nance and gesture ; these we shall endeavour to 
describe, and to each description subjoin an ex- 
ample for practice. 

In the following explanation and description of 
the passions, I have been greatly indebted to a 
very ingenious performance called the Art of 
Speaking ; this work, though not without its im- 
perfections, is on a pfen the most useful that has 
hitherto been adopted. The passions are first 
described, then passages are produced which 
contain the several passions, and these passions 
are marked in the margin as they promiscuously 
^pcur in the passage. This plan I have adopted, 
and I hope not without some degree of improve- 
ment. For after the description of the several 
passions, in which I have frequently departed 
widely from this author, I have subjoined exam- 
ples to each passion and emotion, which con- 
tain scarcely any passion or eftiotion but that de- 
scribed ; and by thus keeping one passion in 
view at a time, it is presumed the pupil will 
more easily acquire the imitation of it, than by 
passing suddenly to those passages where they 
are scattered promiscuously in small portions. 
But though this association of the similar passi- 
on is certainly an advantage, the greatest merit is 
due to the author above mentioned ; who, by the 



380 ELEMENTS OF 

division of a passage into its several passi©ns v | 
and marking these passions as they occur, has 
done real service to the art of speaking, and ren- 
dered his book one of the most useful that has ! 
foecn hitherto published* 



, THE PASSIONS. 



The first picture of the Passions (if it may be 
lied so) is 



:alledso) is 

TRANQUILLITY, 



Tranquillity appears by the composure of the 
countenance, and general repose of the whole 
body, without the exertion of any one muscle. 
The countenance cpen, the forehead smooth, the 
eyebrows arched, the -mouth just not shut, and 
the eyes passing with an easy motion from object 
to object but not dwelling long upon any one. To 
distinguish it, however, from insensibility, it 
seems necessary to give it that cast of happiness 
w,hich borders on chearfulness. 

CHEARFULNESS. 

When joy is settled into a habit, or flows from 
a placid temper of mind, desiring to please and be 
pleased, it is called gaiety, good-humour, or 
chearfulness. ' 

Chearfulness adds a smile to tranquillity, and 
opens the mouth a little more. 

Chearfulness in Retirement. 

Now my co-mates, and brothers in exile, 
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet 
Than that of painted pomp ? Are not these woods 






382' ELEMENTS OF 



More free from peril than the envious court J 
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam, 
The season's difference ; as the icy fang" 
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind, 
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body 
Ev'n till I shrink with cold, I smile and say, 
This is no flattery ; these are counsellors 
That feelingly persuade me what I am. 
Sweet are the uses of adversity, 
That like a toad, ugly and venemous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in its head ; 
And this our life exempt from public haunts, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running- brooks, 
•Sermons in stones, and good in every thing. 

Shakspeare's As You Likt It, 

MIRTH. 

When joy arises from ludicrous or fugitive 
amusements in which others share with us, it is 
called merriment or mirth. 

Mirth, or laughter, opens the mouth horizon- 
tally, raises the cheeks high, lessens the aperture of 
the eyes, and, when violent, shakes and convulses 
the whole frame, fills the eyes with tears, and 
occasions holding the sides from the pain the 
convulsive laughter gives them. 

Invocation oj the Goddess of JWirth. 

But come, thou goddess, fair and free, 
In heav'n y'clep'd Euphrosyne, 
And of men heart-easing Mirth ; 
Whom lovely Venus at a birth, 
With two sister graces more, 
To ivy -crowned Bacchus bore. 
Come, thou nymph, and bring with thee 
Mirth and youthful Jollity ; 
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles; 
Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles 



585 



ELOCUTION, 

Such as hang- on Hebe's cheek, 
And love to live in dimples sleek : 
Sport, that wrinkled Care derides, 
And Laughter holding- both his sides : 
Come and trip it as ye go, 
©n the light fantastic toe ; 
And in thy right hand bring with thee 
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty. 

• MiltQlL.sf'.d 



Laughter on seeing a shveivd Buffoon, 

A fool, a fool, I met a fool i'th 'forest, 

A motley fool, a miserable varlet ; 

As I do live by food I met a fool, 

Who laid him down, and bask'd him in the sun, 

And rail' d on lady Fortune in good terms ; 

In good set terms, and yet a motley fool ; 

Good morrow, fool, quoth T; no, sir, quoth he, 

Call me not fool, till heav'n hath sent me fortune.; 

And then he drew a dial from his poak, 

And looking on it with lack-lustre eye, 

Says very wisely, it is ten o'clock ; 

Thus may we see, quoth he, how the world wags ; 

J Tis but an hour ago' since it was nine, 

And after one hour more 'twill be eleven, 

And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe, 

And then from hour to hour we rot and rot, 

And thereby hangs a tale. When I did hear 

The motley fool thus moral on the time, 

My lungs began to crow like chanticleer, 

That fools should be so deep contemplative -: 

And I did laugh sans intermission 

An hour.by his dial, O noble fool! 

A worthy fool ! motley's the only wear. 

Shakspeare*8 As Ton tJfct 



RAILLERY. 

Raillery without animosity, puts on the aspect 
of chearfulness ; -the countenance smiling, and 
the tone of voice sprightly. 



384 ELEMENTS QF 



Rallying a Person for being melancholy. 

Let me play the fool 
With mirth and laughter ; so let wrinkles coiive, 
And let my liver rather heat with wine, 
Than my heart cool with mortifying- groans. 
Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, 
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster ? 
Sleep when he wakes, and cree$> into the jaundice 
By being peevish ? I tell thee what, Anthonto, 
(I love thee, and it is my love that speaks ;) 
There are a sort of men whose visages 

Do cream and mantle like a standing pond, 

And do a wilful stillness entertain, 

With purpose to be drest in an opinion 

©f wisdom, gravity, 'profound conceit, > 

As who should say, I am, sir, Oracle, 

And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark ! 

I'll tell thee more of this another time ; 

But fish not with this melancholy bait 

For this fool's gudgeon, this opinion. 

Come, good Lozenzo, fare ye well a while, 

I'll end my exhortation after dinner. 

SNEER. 

Sneer is ironical approbation : where with a 
voice and countenance of mirth somewhat exag- 
gerated, we cast the severest censures; it is hv- 
pocritical mirth and good humour, and differs 
from the real by the sly, arch, satirical tone of 
voice, look, and gesture, that accompany it 

Scoffing at supposed Con>ardi.ce. 

Satan beheld their plight, 
And to his mates thus in derision eall'd : 
O friends, why come not on those victors proud ? 
Ere while they fierce were coming and when we, 
To entertain them fair with open front 
And breast, (what could we more ?) propounded terms 



! 



ELOCUTION. 



385 



Of composition, straight they chang'd their minds, 

Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell, 

As they would dance : yet for a dance they seem'd 

Somewhat extravagant and wild, perhaps 

For joy of offer'd peace ; but I suppose, 

If our proposals once again were heard, 

We should compel them to a quick result. 

' Milton's Farad. Lost, 

JOY. 

A pleasing elation of mind, on the actual or 
assured attainment of good, or deliverance from 
evil, is called Joy. 

Joy, when moderate, opens the countenance 
with smiles, and throws, as it were, a sunshine of 
delectation over the whole frame : When it is 
sudden and violent, it expresses itself by clap- 
ping the hands, raising the eyes towards heaven, 
and giving such a spring to the body as to make 
it attempt to mount up as if it could fly : When 
Joy is extreme, and goes into transport, rapture, 
and ecstacy, it has a wildness of look and gesture 
that borders on folly, madness, and sorrow. 

Joy expected. 

Ah ! Juliet, if the measure of thy joy 
Be heap'd like mine, and that thy skill be more 
To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath 
This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue 
Unfold the imagin'd happiness that both 
Keceive in either by this dear encounter. 

Shakspeare' 's Rom. and Jul* 

Joy approaching to Transport. 

Oh! joy, thou welcome stranger, twice three years 
I have not felt thy vital beam, but now 

Kk 



386 ELEMENTS OF 

It warms my veins, and plays about my heart ; 

A fiery instinct lifts me from the ground, 

And 1 could mount. Dr. Young's Revenge 

Joy approaching to Folly. 

Come, let us to the castle ; 

News, Friends ; our wars are done, the Turks are drowri'd 

How do our old acquaintance of this isle ? — 

Honey, you shall be well desir'd in Cyprus ; 

I have found great love among- them. O my sweet, 

I prattle out of fashion, and I dote 

In mine own comforts. Shakspreare* 's Othello 

Joy bordering on Sorrow. 

Omy soul's joy ! 
If after every tempest come such calms, 
IVfay the winds blow till they have waken 'd death ! 
And let the labouring bark climb hills of seas 
Olympus high, and duck again as low 
As hell's from heav'n ! If it were now to die, 
'Twere now to be most happy, for I fear 
My soul hath her content so absolute, 
That not another comfort like to this 
Succeeds in unknown fate. Ibidem 

Joy, or Satisfaction inexpressible. 

. Imoinda, Oh ! this separation, 

Has made you dearer if it can be so 
Than you were ever to me ! you appear 
Like a kind star to my benighted steps, 
To guide me on my way to happiness ; 
I cannot miss it now. Governor, friend, 
You think me mad : But let me bless you all 
"Who any ways have been the instruments 
Of finding her again. Imoinda's found ! 
And every thing that I would have in her. 

I have a thousand things to ask of her, 
And she as many more to know of me, 
But you have made me happier, I confess, 



ELOCUTION. 



387 






Acknowledge it much happier, than I 

Have words or power to tell you. Captain, you, 

Ev'n you, who most have wrong' d me, I forgive : 

1 will not say you have betrayed me now, 

I'll think you but the minister of fate 

To bring me to my lov'd Imoinda here. 

Let the fools 

Who follow fortune live upon her smiles, 

All our prosperity is plac'd in love, 

We have enough of that to make us happy ; 

This little spot of earth you stand upon, 

Js more to me than the extended plains 

Of my great father's kingdom ; here I reign 

In full delight, in joys to pow'r unknown, 

Your love my empire, and your heart my throne. 

Southern's Oroonokc 



DELIGHT. 

Delight is a high degree of satisfaction, or 
rather is joy moderated, and affording leisure to 
dwell on the pleasing object ; the tones, looks, 
and gestures, are the same as those of joy, but 
less forcible, and more permanent. Thus we 
gaze upon a pleasing figure or picture, listen to 
music, and are intent upon delightful studies. 

Delight on viewing a Statue. 

Leon. See, my lord, 

Would you not deem it breath'd, and that those veins 
Did verily bear blood ? 

Paul. My lord's almost so far transported that 
He'll think anon it lives. 

Leon. O sweet Paulina, 
Make me to think so twenty years together, 
No settled senses of the world can match 
The pleasure of that madness. 

Shaksp. Winter's Tale. 



388 ELEMENTS OF 

LOVE. 

Love is not ill denned by Aaron Hill, when 
foe calls it, desire kept temperate by reverence : 
it is, he says, a conscious and triumphant swell 
of hope, intimidated by respectful apprehension 
of offending, where we long to seem agreeable : 
it is complaint made amiable by gracefulness ; re 
proach endeared by tenderness ; and rapture aw- 
ed by reverence ; the idea then, says he, to be 
conceived by one who would express love 
elegantly, is that of joy combined with fear. 

To this we may add Shakspeare's description 
of this passion in As You Like It. 

Phoebe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love. 

Syl. It is to be all made of phantasy ; 
All made of passion, and all made of wishes ; 
All adoration, duty, and observance, 
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience ; 
All purity, all trial, all observance. As You Like It. 

If these are just descriptions of love, how un- 
like to it is that passion which so profanely as- 
sumes its name ! 

Love gives a soft serenity to the countenance. 
a languishing to the eyes, a sweetness to the 
voice, and a tenderness to the whole frame ; when 
intreating, it clasps the hands, with intermingled 
lingers to the breast ; when declaring, the right 
hand, open, is pressed with force upon the breast 
exactly over the heart ; it makes its approaches 
with the utmost delicacy, and is attended with 
trembling hesitation and confusion. 



ELOCUTION. 389 

Love decribed. 

Come hither, boy ; if ever thou sh alt love, 
In the sweet pangs of it remember me, 
For such as 1 am, all true lovers are ; 
Unstaid and skittish in all motions else, 
Save in the constant image of the creature 
That is belov'd — 

Shakspe are's Ttv. Night. 

Description of languishing Love. 

O fellow, come, the song we had last night : — 
Mark it, Cesario ; it is old and plain ; 
The spinsters, and the knitters in the sun, 
And the free maids that wave their thread with bones, 
Do use to chaunt it ; it is silly sooth, 
And dallies with the innocence of love 
Like to old age. Ibid. 

If music be the food of love, play on ; 
Give me excess of it ; that, surfeiting, 
The appetite may sicken, and so die. — 
That strain again ; — it had a dying fall ; 
O, it came o'er my ear, like the sweet south, 
That breathes upon a bank of violets, 
Stealing and giving odour. — Enough, no more, 
'Tis not so sweet now, as it was before. 
O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou ! 
That notwithstanding thy capacity 
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there, 
Of what validity and pitch soever, 
But falls into abatement and low price, 
Even in a minute ! so full of shapes is fancy, 
That it alone is high fantastical. Twelfth Mght. 

Delight in Love. 

What you do 
Still better's what is done. When you speak, sweet, 
I'd have you do it ever : When you sing, 
I'd have you buy and sell so ; so give alms, 
Pray so ; and, for the ordering your affairs, 
To sing them to : When you do dance, I wish you 

Kk2 



; 90 ELEMENTS OF 

A wave o'the sea, that you might ever do 

Nothing but that ; move still, still so, 

And own no other function : each your doing, 

So singular in each particular, 

Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds, 

That all your acts are queens. Ibid. Winter's Tale. 

Protestation in Love. 

-O, hear me breathe my life 



Before this ancient sir, who, it should seem, 

Hath some time lov'd : I take thy hand ; this hand, 

As soft as dove's down, and as white as it; 

Or Ethiopian's tooth, or the fann'd snow, 

That's bolted by the northern blasts twice o'er. 

Shakspeare^s Winter's Tale- 



Love complaining, 

Ay, Protheus, but that life is alter'd now ; 
I have done penance for contemning love, 
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish' d me, 
With bitter fasts, with penitential groans, 
With nightly tears, and daily heart-sore sighs : 
For in revenge of my contempt of love, 
Love hath chac'd sleep from my enthralled eyes, 
And made them watchers of mine own heart's sorrow. 
O gentle Protheus, love's a mighty lord,. 
And hath so humbled me, as I confess 
There is no woe to his correction ; 
Nor to his service, any joy on earth ; 
Now no discourse except it be of love ; 
Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and sleep, 
Upon the very simple name of love. 

Shakspeare, Two Gent, of Verona, 



PITY. 



Pity 



is benevolence to the afflicted. It is a 
anixture of love for an object that suffers* and a 
grief that we are not able to remove those suffer- 
ings. It shows itself in a compassionate tender- 



ELOCUTION. 391 

viess of voice ; a feeling of pain in the counte- 
nance, and a gentle raising and falling of the 
hands and eyes, as if mourning over the unhap*- 
\fy object. The mouth is open, the eye- brow's 
are drawn down, and the features contracted or 
drawn together. See p. 277 278. 

Pity in plaintive narration. 

As in a theatre the eyes of men, 
After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 
Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
Thinking his prattle to be tedious, 
Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes, 
Did scowl on Richard ; no man cry'd God save him ; 
No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home : 
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head ; 
Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off— 
His face still combating with tears and smiles, 
The badges of his grief and patience, — 
That had not God, for some strong purpose-,-steei'd 
The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted, 
And barbarism itself have pitied him. 
But heav'n hath a hand in those events ; 
To whose high will we bound our calm contents. 

Shakspeare's KicluJI. 

Pity for falling greatness. 

Ah, Richard ! with eyes of heavy mind, 
I see thy glory like a shooting star, 
Fall to the base earth, from the firmament ! 
Thy sun sits weeping in the lowly west, 
"Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest ; 
Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes, 
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes. Ibid. 

Pity for a departed Friend. 

Alas! PoorYorick! I knew him, Horatio ; a fellow of infinite 
Jest, of most excellent fancy : he hath borne me on his Rack a 



392 ELEMENTS OF 

thousand times ; and now how abhorred in my imagination it is . 
my gorge rises at it. Here hung- those lips that I have kissed 1 
know not how oft. Where be your.gibes now ? Your gambols ? Your 
songs ? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the ta- 
ble on a roar ? Not one now to mock your own grinning ? Quite 
chop-fallen ? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, 
let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come ; make 
her laugh at that,— Ibid. Hamlet 



Pity for the objeot beloved. 

r Poor lord ! is't I 
That chace thee from thy country, and expose 
Those tender limbs of thine to the event 
Of the non sparing war ? and is it I 
That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou 
Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark 
Of smoky muskets ? O you leaden messengers, 
That ride upon the violent speed of fire, 
Fly with false aim ; move the still piercing air, 
That sings with piercing, do not touch my lord ! 
Whoever shoots at him, I set him there ; 
Whoever charges on his forward breast, 
I am the caitiff, that do hold him to it ; 
And, though I kill him not, I am the cause 
His death was so' effected: better 'twere 
I met the raven lion when he roar'd 
With sharp constraint of hunger ; better 'twere 
That all the miseries which nature owes, 
Were mine at once ; No, come thou home, Rousillon, 
Whence honour but of danger wins a scar: 
As oft it loses all ; I will be gone : 
My being here it is, that holds thee hence ; 
Shall I say here to do*t ? no, no, although 
The air of paradise did fan the house, 
And angels offic'd all ! I will be gone. 

Shakspeare's Mi's Welly &c t 



Pity for youth over-watched. 

Luc. I have slept, my lord, already. 

£ru. It was well done ; and thou shalt sleep again ; 
i shall not hold thee long : if I do live, 
I will be good to thee. [Music, and a song 

This is a sleepy tune ; O murd'rous slumber ! 



ELOCUTION, 



393 



Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, 
That plays thee music ? — Gentle knave, good night ; 
I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. 
If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument ; 
I'll take it from thee, and, good boy, good night. 

Ibid. Jul Cues, 



HOPE. 

Hope is a mixture of desire and joy, agitating 
the mind, and anticipating its enjoyment. It 
erects and brightens the countenance, spreads 
the arms with the hands open, as to receive the 
object of its wishes: the voice is plaintive, and 
inclining to eagerness ; the breath drawn inwards 
more forcibly than usual, in order to express our 
desires the more strongly, and our earnest ex- 
pectation of receiving the object of them. 

Collins, in his Ode on the Passions, gives us 
a beautiful picture of Hope : 

But thou, O Hope, with eyes so fair, 

What was thy delighted measure ? 

Still it whisper'd promis'd pleasure, 

And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail ; 

Still would her touch the scene prolong, 

And from the rocks, the woods, the vale, 

She call'd on echo still through all the song ; 

And where her sweetest theme she chose, 

A soft responsive voice was heard at every close, 

And Hope, enchaDted, smil'd, and wav'd her golden hair. 

Hope from approaching Nuptials. 

Now, fair Hippolita, our nuptial hour 
Draws on apace, four happy days brings in 
Another moon ; but oh ! methinks, how slow 
This old moon wains ! she lingers my desires, 



394 ELEMENTS OF 

Like to a step-dame, or a dowager 
Long-withering- out a young man's revenue. 

Shaksp. Midsum. Night. 

Hope of good tidings. 

O Hope, sweet flatterer, whose delusive touch 
Sheds on afflicted minds the balm of comfort, 
Relieves the load of poverty; sustains 
The captive bending with the weight of bonds, 
And smooths the pillow of disease and pain ; 
Send back th" exploring messenger with joy, 
And let me hail thee from that friendly grove. 

Glover's Beadiced. 

HATRED, AVERSION. 

When, by frequent reflection on a disagreeable 
object, our disapprobation of it is attended with 
a disinclination of mind towards it, it is called 
hatred. When our hatred and disapprobation of 
any object are accompanied with a painful sen- 
sation upon the apprehension of its presence or 
approach, there follows an inclination to avoid it, 
called aversion. 

Hatred or aversion, draws back the body as to 
avoid the hated object; the hands at the same 
time thrown out spread, as if to keep it off. 
The face is turned away from that side towards 
which the hands are thrown out ; the eyes look- 
ing angrily, and obliquely the same way the hands 
are directed ; the eye-brows are contracted, the 
upper lip disdainfully drawn up, and the teeth 
set ; the pitch of the voice is low, but loud and 
harsh, the tone chiding, unequal, surly, and ve- 
hement, the sentences are short and abrupt. 



J 



ELOCUTION. 395 

A description and example of this passion 
frOm Shakspeare is given in the introduction to 
these examples, p. 276. To these we shall add 
a few others : 

Hatred cursing' the object hated. 

Poison be their drink, 
Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest meat they taste ; 
Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees, 
Their sweetest prospects murd'ring basilisks, 
Their softest touch as smart as lizard's stings, 
Their music frightful as the serpent's hiss, 
And boading sci*eech-owls make the concert full j 
All the foul terrors of dark-seated hell. 

Shdksp.Hbn. VI, 

This seems imitated by Dr. Young. 

Why get thee gone, horror and night go with thee. 
Sisters of Acheron, go hand in hand, 
Go dance about the bow'r and close them in ; 
And tell them that I sent you to salute them. 
Prophane the ground, and for th' ambrosial rose 
And breath of jessamin, let hemlock blacken, 
And deadly night-shade poison all the air : 
For the sweet nightingale may ravens croak, 
Toads pant, and adders rustle through the leaves : 
May serpents, winding up the trees, let fall 
Their hissing necks upon them from above, 
And mingle kisses — such as I would give them 



*ttevenge, 



Hatred of a rival in glory, 



He is my bane, I cannot bear him ; 
One heaven and earth can never hold us both j 
Still shall we hate, and with defiance deadly 
Keep rage alive till one be lost for ever ; 
As if two suns should meet in one meridian, 
And strive in fiery combat for the passage. 

Howe's Tamerlane, 



396 ELEMENTS OF 

ANGER, RAGE, FURY. 

When hatred and displeasure rise high on a 
sudden from an apprehension of injury received, 
and perturbation of mind in consequence of it, 
it is called anger ; and rising to a very high de- 
gree, and extinguishing humanity, becomes 
rage and fury. 

Anger, when violent, expresses itself with ra- 
pidity, noise, harshness, and sometimes with in- 
terruption and hesitation, as if unable to utter 
itself with sufficient force. It wrinkles the brows, 
enlarges and heaves the nostrils, strains the mus- 
cles, clinches the fist, stamps with the foot, and 
gives a violent agitation to the whole body- The 
voice assumes the highest tone it can adopt con- 
sistently with force and loudness, though some- 
times to express anger with uncommon energy, 
the voice assumes a low and forcible tone. 

JVarralive in suppressed Ariger. 

My liege, I did deny no prisoners, 
But I remember when the fight was done, 
When I was dry with rage, and extreme toil, 
Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, 
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly dressM, 
Fresh as a bridegroom ; and his chin, new reap'd, 
Show'd like a stubble land at harvest-home : 
He was perfumed like a milliner ; 
And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held 
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon, 
He gave his nose, and took't away again ;— 
Who, therewith angry when it next came there, 
Took it in snuff— and still he smil'd and talk'd, 
And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by, 
He call'd them — untaught knaves, unmannerly, 
To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse 



i I 

ELOCUTION. 397 



Betwixt the wind and his nobility. 

With many holiday and lady terms, 

He questional me, among- the rest demanded 

My prisoners, in your majesty's behalf. 

I then all smarting" with my wounds being cold, 

To be so pestered with a popinjay, 

Out of my grief and my impatience 

Answer'dneglectingly, I know not what, 

He should, or lie should not ; — for he made me mad. 

To see him shine so brisk, and smell so sweet, 

And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman, 

Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (heav'n save the mark !) 

And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth, 

Was parmacity for an inward bruise; 

And that it was great pity, so it was, 

That villainous salt-petre should be digg'd 

Out of the bowels of the harmless earth, 

Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd 

So cowardly ; and but for these vile guns, 

He would himself have been a soldier. 

This bald, unjointed chat of his, my lord, 

I answer'd indirectly as I said, 

And I beseech you, let not his report, 

Come current for an accusation, 

Betwixt my love and your high majesty. 

Shakspeare 1 's Henry IV. First Part, 

Scorn and violent Anger, reproving, 

Tut! tut! 
Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle, 
I am no traitor's uncle ; and that word — grace 
In an ungracious mouth is but profane ; 
Why have those banished and forbidden legs 
Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground ? 
But more than why — Why have they dar'd to march 
So many miles upon her peaceful bosom ; 
Frighting her pale fae'd villages with war, 
And ostentation of despised arms ? 
Com'st thou because the anointed king is hence ? 
Why foolish boy, the king is left behind, 
And in my loyal bosom lies his pow'r. 
Were I but now the lord of such hot youth 
As when brave Gaunt, thy father, and myself 
Rescu'd the Black Prince, that young Mars of men. 
From forth the ranks of many thousand French i 

Ll 



398 ELEMENTS OF 

Oh, then, how quickly should this arm of mine, 

Now prisoner to the palsy, chastise thee, 

And minister correction to thy fault ! Shaksp. Rich. II 

REVENGE. 

Revenge is a propensity and endeavour to in- 
jure the offender, which is attended with triumph 
and exultation when the injury is accomplished. 
It expresses itself like malice, but more openly, 
loudly, and triumphantly. 

Determined Revenge. 

I know not : if they speak but truth of her 
These hands shall tear her; if they wrong her honaui 
The proudest of them shall well hear of it. 
Time hath not yet so dry'd this blood of mine, 
Nor age so eat up my invention, 
Nor fortune made such havoc of my means, 
Nor my bad life 'reft me so much of friends, 
But they shall find awak'd in such a kind, 
Both strength of limb and policy of mind, 
Ability in means, and choice of friends 
To quit me of them thoroughly. Ibid. Much Jdo, &c 

Eager Revenge. 

Oh, I could play the woman with mine eyes, 
And braggart with my tongue ! — But, gentle heaven, 
Cut short all intermission : front to front, 
Bring thou this fiend of Scotland, and myself; 
Within my sword's length set him ; if he 'scape, 
Heaven forgive him too ! Shaksp. Macbeth, 

Unrestrained Fury. 

Alive '. in triumph ! and Mercutio slain 3 
Away to heaven respective lenity, 
And fire-ey'd fury be my conduct now !— 
Now Tybalt take the villain back again 
That late thou gav'st me ; for Mercutio's soul 



ELOCUTION. 



399 



Is but a little way above our heads 
Staying for thine to keep him company, 
And thou or I, or both shall follow him. 

Ibid. Romeo and Juliet. 



REPROACH. 

Reproach is settled anger or hatred chastising 
the object of dislike, by casting in his teeth the 
severest censures upon his imperfections ot mis- 
conduct : the brow is contracted, the lip turned 
up with scorn, the head shaken, the voice low, as 
if abhorring, and the whole body expressive of 
aversion. 

Reproaching -with Stupidity and Inconstancy. 

Wherefore rejoice ? What conquest brings he home ? 
What tributaries follow him to Home, 
To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels ? 
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! 
O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, 
Knew ye not Pompey ? Many a time and oft 
Have you climb" d up to walls and battlements, 
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops, 
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat 
The live-long day, with patient expectation, 
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : 
And when you saw his chariot but appear, 
Have you not made an universal shout, 
That Tyber trembled underneath his banks, 
To hear the replication cf your sounds, 
Made in his concave shores ? 
And do you now put on your best attire I 
And do you now cull out a holiday ? 
And do you now strew flowers in his way, 
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood I 
Be'gone; 

Run to your houses ; fall upon your knees, 
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague, 
That needs must light on this ingratitude, Shaksp. Jul. C<es< 



400 



ELEMENTS OF 



Eeproaclang -with -want of Friendship. 

You have done that which you should be sorry for\ 
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats ; 
For I am arm'd so strong in honesty, 
That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
Which I respect not. I did send to you 
For certain sums of gold, which you deny'd me ; 
For I can raise no money by vile means ; 
Ko Cassius, I had rather coin my heart, 
And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring 
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash 
By any indirection. 1 did send 
To you for gold to pay my legions, 
Which you deny'd me : Was that done like Cassius ? 
Should 1 have answer'd Caius Cassius so ? 
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, 
To lock such rascal-counters from his friends, 
Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts, 
Dash him to pieces. Ibid 

Heproaching with want of Jltanliness. 

O proper stuff! 
This is the very painting of your fears ; 
This is the air-drawn dagger, which you said, 
Led you to Duncan. Oh, these flaws and starts, 
(Impostors to true fear) would well become 
A woman's story, at a winter's fire, 
Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself! 
Why do you make such faces ? When all's done, 
You look but on a stool. Ibid. Macbeth 

Heproaching -with want of Courage and Spirit. 

■ Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward, 

Thou little valiant, great in villany ! 
Thou ever strong upon the stronger side ! 
Thou fortune's champion, thou dost never fight 
But when her humorous ladyship is by 
To teach thee safety ! thou art perjur'd too 
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou, 
A ramping fool ; to brag and stamp, and swear, 
Upon my party ! Thou cold-blooded slave, 
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side* 



ELOCUTION. 401 



Been sworn my soldier ? Bidding- me depend 
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength ? 
And dost thou now fall over to my foes ? 
Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for shame 
And hang- a calf's skin on those recreant limbs. 



FEAR AND TERROR. - v 

Fear is a mixture of aversion and sorrow, dis- 
composing and debilitating the mind upon the ap- 
proach or anticipation of evil. When this is at- 
tended with surprise and much discomposure, it 
grows into terror and consternation. 

Fear, violent and sudden, opens wide the eyes 
and mouth, shortens the nose, gives the coun- 
tenance an air of wildness, covers it with deadly 
paleness, draws back the elbows parallel with the 
sides, lifts up the open hands, with the fingers 
spread, to the height of the breast, at some dis- 
tance before it, so as to shield it from the dread- 
ful object. One foot is drawn back behind the 
other, so that the body seems shrinking from the 
danger, and putting itself in a posture for flight. 
The heart beats violently, the breath is quick and 
short, and the whole body is thrown into a general 
tremor. The voice is weak and trembling, the 
sentences are short, and the meaning confused 
iuid incoherent. 

Terror before dreadful Actions described. ; 

Between the acting of a dreadful thing", 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream ? 
The genius, and the mortal instruments^ 

LI 2 I 



402 ELEMENTS OF 

Are then in council, and the state of man, 

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 

The nature of an insurrection. Shaksp. Jul, Cas. 

Terror of Evening and J\"ight described. 



-Light thickens ; and the crow- 



Makes wing to the rooky wood , 
Good things of day begin to droop and drowze ; 
While night's black agents to their prey do rouze, 
Thou marveli'st at my words : but hold thee still ; 
Things, bad begun, make strong themselves by ill. 

Ibid. Macbeth- 
Fear from a dreadful Object. 

Angels and ministers of grace defend us — 
Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, 
Bring with thee airs from heav'n, or blasts from hell, 
Be thy inients wicked or charitable, 
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape 
That I will speak to thee. 
Save me and hover o'er me with your wings 
You heavenly guards ! — what would your gracious figure 

Ibid. Hamlet. 

Horror at a dreadful Apparition. 

How ill this taper burns ! ha! who comes here ? . 
1 think it is the weakness of my eyes, 

That shapes this monstrous apparition 

It comes upon me — Art thou any thing ? 

An thou some god, some angel, or some devil, 

That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare, 

Speak to me what thou art. Ibid. Jul. Cces. 

Terror from committing Murder. 

Mac. I've done the deed — didst not thou hear a noise ? 
Lady. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. 
Did- you not speak ? 
Mac When ? 
Lady. Now. 
Mac. As I descended ? 
Lady. Ay. 
Mac. Hark '.—who lies i'th* second chamber? 



ELOCUTION. 403 

Lady. Donalbain. 

Mac. This is a sorry sight. 

Lady. A foolish thought to say a sorry sight. 

Mac. There's one did laugh in his sleep, and one cryVl 
murder ! 
That they did wake each other ; I stood and heard them : 
But they 'did say their pray'rs, and addressed them 
Again to sleep 

Fear of being discovered in Murder. 

Alas, I am afraid they have awak'd, 
And 'tis not done ; th' attempt and not the deed, 

Confounds us Hark ! — I laid the daggers ready, 

He could not miss them. Had he not resembled 

My father as he slept, I had done it. Shakspeare, 

SORROW. 

Sorrow is a painful depression of spirit, upon 
the deprivation of good, or arrival of evil ; when 
it is silent and thoughtful, it is sadness ; when 
long indulged, so as to prey upon and pos- 
sess the mind, it becomes habitual, and grows 
into melancholy ; when tossed by hopes and fears, 
it is distraction ; when these are swallowed up by 
it, it settles into despair. 

In moderate sorrow, the countenance is de- 
jected, the eyes are cast downward, the arms hang 
loose, sometimes a little raised, suddenly to fall 
again; the hands open, the fingers spread, and 
the voice plaintive, frequently interrupted with 
sighs. But when this passion is in excess, it dis- 
torts the countenance, as if in agonies of pain ; it 
raises the voice to the loudest complainings, and 
sometimes even to cries and shrieks ; it wrings 
the hands, beats the head and breast, tears the 



404 ELEMENTS OF 

hair, and throws itself on the ground; and, like 
other passions, in excess, seems to border on 
phrenzy. 

Sadness. 

ilnth. In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. 
It wearies me ; you say it wearies you : 
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, 
I am to learn. 

And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, 
That I have much ado to know myself. 

Gra. You look not well, signor Authonio ; 
You have too much respect upon the world : 
They lose it that do buy it with much care •, 
Believe me, you are marvellously chang'd. 

Jlnlh. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano ; 
A stage, where every one must play his part ; 
And mine's a sad one. Shakspeare's Mer. of V& 

Deep JWelancholy described. 

She never told her love, 
But let concealment, like a worm i'th* bud, 
Feed on her damask cheek. She pin'd in thought, 
And with a green and yellow melancholy 
She sat like patience on a monument 
Smiling at grief. Ibid. Twelfth Night. 

Pensive foreboding. 

My mother had a maid call'd Barbara, 
She was in love ; and he she lov'd prov'd mad, 
And did forsake her : she had a song of willow, 
An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune, 
And she dy'd singing it : That song to night 
Will not go from my mind, I have much to do 
But to go hang my head all o' one side, 
And sing it like poor Barbara. Ibid. Othello, 

Silent Grief. 

Seems, madam ! nay, It is : I know not seems, 
*Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, 



elocution: 405 



Nor customary suits of solemn black, 
Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath ; 
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 
Nor the dejected 'haviour of the visage, 
Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief 
That can denote me truly : These indeed seem, 
For they are actions that a man might play; 
But I have that within which passeth show, 
These but the trappings and the fruits of woe. 

Shakspeare's Hamlet. 

Inward Sorrow. 

Say that again. 
The shadow of my sorrow ! Ha ! let's see :— 
'Tis very true, my grief lies all within ; 
And these external manners of lament 
Are merely shadows to the unseen grief 
That swells with silence in my tortured soul ; 
There lies the substance : and I thank thee, king, 
For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st 
Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way 
How to lament the cause. Til beg one boon, 
And then be gone, and trouble you no more. Ibid. Rich. II, 

Sorrow forgetful of its Intentions. 

Yet one word more ; — Grief boundeth where it falls, 
Not with the empty hollowness, but weight ; 
1 take my leave before I have begun, 
For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done. 
Commend me to my brother Edmund York, 
To this is all : — nay, yet depart not so ; 
Though this be all", do not so quickly go, 
1 shall remember more. Bid him — Oh, what ? 
With ail good speed at Plashy visit me. 
Alack, and what shall good old York there see, 
But empty lodgings, and unfinish'd walls, 
Unpeopled offices, untrodden stones ? 
And what hear there for welcome but my groans I 
Therefore commend me ; let him not come there 
To seek out sorrow that dwells every where ; 
Desolate, desolate, will I hence, and die ; 
The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye. 

Shakspeare , s Richard II 



406 



ELEMENTS OF 



Grief deploring Loss of Happiness. 

I had been happy, if the general camp, 
Pioneers and all, had wrong'd my love, 
So had I nothing known : O now "for ever, 
Farewell the tranquil mind ; farewell content, 
Farewell the plumed troop and the big war 
That make ambition virtue ! O farewell, 
Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, 
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, 
The royal banner, and all quality, 
"Pride, pomp, and circumstances of glorious war ! 
Farewell ! Othello's occupation's gone. Ibid. Othello. 

Grief 'approaching to Madness. 

Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not sorrow. 

Const. Thou art unholy to belie me so ; 
I am not mad : this hair I tear is mine ; 
My name is Constance; I was Geffrey's wife ; 
loung Arthur is my son, and he is lost : 
1 am not mad ; — I would to heaven I were ! 
For then 'tis like I should forget myself: 
Oh, if I could, what grief should I forget ! 
Preach some philosophy to make me mad, 
And, cardinal, thou shalt be canoniz'd ; 
For, being not mad, but sensible of grief, 
My reasonable part produces reason 
How I may be delivered of these woes, 
And teaches me to kill or hang myself: 
If I were mad, I should forget my son, 
Or madly think a babe of clouts were he ; 
I am not mad ; too well, too well I feel 
The different plague of each calamity. Ibid. King John, 



Grief mixed with Pity, assuming a Smile. 

Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me; 
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form, 
Then have I reason to be fond of grief. Ibid. 



ELOCUTION. 



Grief approaching to Distraction. 



407 



Thou canst not speak of what thou dost not feel ; 

Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love, 

An hour but married, Tybalt murder'd, 

Doating like me, and like me banished, 

Then might'st thou speak, then might'st thou tear thy hair, 

And fall upon the ground as I do now, 

Taking the measure of an unmade grave. 

Shakspeare's Romeo and -Juliet, 

Grief choaking Expression. 



Macd. My children too 



Hosse. Wife, children, servants, all that could be found ! 

Macd. And I must be from thence ! my wife kilPd too ! 

Hosse. I've said. 

Mai Be comforted. 
Lets make us med'cines of our great revenge, 
To cure this deadly grief. 

Macd. He has no children ! 
What, all my pretty ones ? Did you say all \ . % 

What, all ? 

Mai. Endure it like a man. 

Macd. I shall. 
But I must also feel it as a man. 
I cannot but remember such things were 
That were most precious to me : did heaven Jfok on, 
And would not take their part ? sinful Macduff, 
They were all struck for thee ! naught that I am ! 
Not for their own demerits, but for mine 
Fell slaughter on their souls : heav'n rest them now. 

Ibid. Macbeth 

REMORSE. 

Remorse, or a painful remembrance of crimi- 
nal actions or pursuits, cast down the countenance, 
and clouds it with anxiety, hangs down the head, 
shakes it with regret, just raises the eyes as if to 
look up, and suddenly casts them down again 
with sighs ; the right hand sometimes beats the 
breast, and the whole body writhes as with self 



408 ELEMENTS OF 

aversion. The voice has a harshness as in ha- 
tred, and inclines to a low and reproachful tone. 

Keen Remorse for Drunke?iness. 

I remember a mass of things, but nothing- distinctly ; a quar- 
rel, nothing- wherefore. O that men should put an enemy in their 
mouths to steal away their brains ! that we should with joy, plea- 
sure, revel, applause, transform ourselves into beasts ! I will ask. 
him for my place ag-ain ; he shall tell me I am a drunkard : Had I 
as many mouths as Hydra, such an answer would stop them all ; 
> To be now a sensible man, by and by a fool, and presently a beast ! 
O strange ! every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient 
is a devil. Shakspecre's Othello 

Remorse for Treachery and Ingratitude. 

I am alone the villain of the earth; 
And feel I am so most. O Anthony, 

f^hou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid 
ly better service, when my turpitude 
Thou dost so crown with good ! This blows my heart ; 
If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean 
Shall out rike thought ; but thought will do't I feel— 
I fight ag t thee ! — No : I will go seek 
Some ^i n ereintodie< the foulest best 
Befits W$ lauer part of life. Ibid. Ant. and Cleo 

Reproach and Remorse for Murder of an innosent Child. 

Oh, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth 
Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal 
"Witness against us to damnation ! 
How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds 
Makes deeds ill done ! Hadst not thou been by, 
A fellow by the hand of Nature mark'd, 
Quoted and sign'd to do a deed of shame, 
This murder had not come into my mind, 
But taking note of thy abhorr'd aspect, 
Finding" thee fit for bloody villany 
Apt, liable to be employed in danger, 
I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death ; 
And thou to be endeared to a king, 
Mads't it no conscience to destroy a prince. 

Ibid. King John. 



ELOCUTION. 409 

DESPAIR. 

Despair, as in a condemned criminal, or one 
who has lost all hope of salvation, bends the eye- 
brows downwards, clouds the forehead, rolls the 
eyes frightfully, opens the mouth horizontally, 
bites the lips, widens the nostrils,and gnashes the 
teeth. The arms are sometimes bent at the el- 
bows, the fists clinched hard, the veins arid mus- 
cles swelled, the skin livid, the whole body 
strained and violently agitated ; while groans of 
inward torture are more frequently uttered than 
words. If any words, they are few, and expres- 
sed with a sullen eager bitterness, the tone of the 
voice often loud and furious, and sometimes in 
the same note for a considerable time. This state 
of human nature is too frightful to dwell upon 9 
and almost improper for imitation ; for if death, 
cannot be counterfeited without too much shock- 
ing our humanity ; despair, which exffloits a state 
ten thousand times more terrible than death, 
ought to be viewed with a kind of reverence to 
the great Author of Nature, who seems some 
times to exhibit to us this agony of mind as a 
warning to avoid that wickedness which pro- 
duces it. 

Shakspeare has most exquisitely touched this 
fearful situation of human nature, where he draws, 
cardinal Beaufort, after a wicked life, dying in 
despair, and terrified with the murder of duke 
Humphrey, to which he was accessary, 
M m 



410 ELEMENTS OF 

K. Hen. How fares my lord? speak, Beaufort, to the sove- 
reign. 

Car. If thou be'st Death I'll give thee England's treasure. 
Enough to purchase such another island, 
So thou wilt let me live and feel no pain. 

K. Hen. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, 
When death's approach is seen so terrible ! 

War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee. 

Car. Bring me to my trial when you will, 
Dy'd he not in his bed ? where should he die ? 
Can I make men live, whether they will or no ? — 
Oh ! torture me no more, I will confess. — 
Alive again ? then show me where he is, 
I'll give a thousand pounds to look upon him. — 
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them — 
Comb down his hair; look! look! it stands upright, 
Like lime-twigs to catch my winged soul ! 
Give me some drink, and bid the apothecary 
Bring the strong poison that T bought of him. 

K. Hen. O thou eternal mover of the heavens, 
Look with gentle eye upon this wretch ; 
OAeat away the busy meddling fiend 
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul, 
And from his bosom purge this black despair ! 

War. See how the pangs of death do make him grin. 

Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably. 

K. Hen. Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be ! 
Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on heav'n's bliss, 
Hold upTOy hand, make signal of thy hope, — 
He dies and makes no sign : O God, forgive him. 

Shakspeare^s 2d part, Henry JT 

The bare situation of the characters, the pause 
and the few plain words of King Henry, he flics 
and makes no sign! have more of the real sub- 
lime in them than volumes of the laboured speech- 
es in most of our modern tragedies, which, in the 
emphatical language of Shakspeare, may be saicl 
to be " full of sound and fury signifying no- 
thing." 



ELOCUTION. 



411 



SURPRISE, WONDER, AMAZEMENT, 
ADMIRATION. 

An uncommon object produces wonder ; if it 
appears suddenly, it begets surprise ; surprise 
continuing becomes amazement ; and if the ob- 
ject of wonder comes gently to the mind, and 
arrests the attention by its beauty or grandeur, it 
excites admiration, which is a mixture of appro- 
bation and wonder ; so true is that observation 
of Dr. Young in the tragedy of the Revenge : 

Late time shall wonder, that my joys shall raise, 
For wonder is involuntary praise. 

Wonder or amazement opens the eyes, and 
makes them appear very prominent. It some- 
times raises them to the skies, but more frequent- 
ly fixes them on the object ; the mouth is open, 
and the hands are held up nearly in the 4 attitude of 
fear ; the voice is at first low, but so emphatical, 
that every word is pronounced slowly and with 
energy : When, by the discovery of something 
excellent in the object of wonder, the emotion 
may be called admiration, the eyes are raised, 
the hands lifted up, or clapped together, and the 
voice elevated with expressions of rapture. 

Surprise at unexpected Events. 

Gone to be marry'd, gone to swear a peace ! 
False blood to false blood join'd ! Gone to be friends ! 
Shall Lewis have Blanch ? and Blanch those provinces J 
It is not so : Thou hast mis-spoke, mis-heard I 
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again : 



412 ELEMENTS OF 

Jt cannot be ? thou dcst but say 'tis so, 
What dost thou mean by shaking- of thy head ? 
Why dost thou look so sadly on my son ? 
What means that hand upon* that breast of thine » 
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum, 
Like a proud river peering- o'er his bounds ? 
Be these sad sighs confirmers of thy words ! 
Then speak ag-ain ; not all thy former tale, 
But this one word, whether thy tale be true. 

Shakspeare's K. John. 



Amazement at strange STewB, 

Old men and beldames, in the streets, 
Do prophesy upon it dangerously ; 
Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths ; 
And when they talk of him they shake their heads, 
And whisper one another in the ear ; 
And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist ; 
Whilst he that hears makes fearful action, 
With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling' eyes. 
I saw a smith stand with his hammer thus 
The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool, 
With open mouth swallowing a taylor's news ; 
Who, with his shears and measure in his hand, 
Standing on slippers, (which his nimble haste 
Had safely thrust upon contrary feet,) 
Told of a many thousand warlike French, 
That were embattled and rank'd in Kent: 
Another lean unwash'd artificer 
Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death. Ibid 



Emphatic Climax of Astonishment. 

Sir Richard, what think you ? Have you beheld, 
Or, have you read, or heard ? or could you think ? 
Or do you almost think, although you see, 
That you do see ? Could thought, without this object, 
Form such another ? This is the very top, 
The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest 
Of Murder's arms : This is the bioodiest shame* 
The wildest savag'ry, the vilest stroke, 
That ever wall-ey'd Wrath, or starving Rage, 
Presented to the tears of soft Remorse. 



ELOCUTION. 41: 



PRIDE. 



When our esteem of ourselves, or opinion of 
our own rank and merit, is so high as to lessen 
the regard due to the rank and merit of others, it 
is called pride. When it supposes others belo*vv 
our regard, it is contempt, scorn, or disdain. 

Pride assumes a lofty look, bordering upon 
ilie aspect and attitude of anger. The eyes full 
ppen, but with the eye-brows considerably drawn 
down, the, mouth pouting, mostly shut, and the 
lips contracted. The words are uttered with a 
slow, stiff, bombastic affectation of importance ; 
the hands sometimes rest on the hips, with the 
elbows brought forward in the position called 
a-kimbo ; the legs at a distance from each other,, 
the steps large and stately. 



Pride deserting Independence. 

Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back; 
I am loo high born to be property'd ; 
To be a secondary at control, 
Or useful serving-man and instrument 
To any sovereign state throughout the world. 
Your breath first kindled the dead coal of war 
Between this chastis'd kingdom and myself, 
And brought in matter that should feed this fire 5 
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out 
With that same weak wind which enkindled it. 
You taught me how to know the face of right, 
Acquainted me with interest to this land ; 
Yea, thrust this enterprise into my heart ; 
And come ye now to tell me John hath made 

M m 2 



414 



ELEMENTS OF 



His peace with Rome ? What is that peace to me I 

I, by the honour of my marriage bed, 

After young Arthur, claim this land for mine ; 

And, now it is half conquered, must 1 back, 

Because that John hath made his peace with Rome 1 * 

Am I Rome's slave ? What penny hath Rome borne. 

What men provided, what munition sent, 

To underprop this action ? l'st not I 

That undergo this charge ? Who else but I, 

And such as to my claim are liable, 

Sweat in this business, and maintain this war I 

Have I not heard these islanders shout out ; 

Five le Roy / as I have bank'd their towns? 

Have I not here the best cards for the game, 

To win this easy match played for a crown ? , 

And shall I now give o'er the yielded set ? 

No, no, my soui, it never shall be said. Shahsp. K. John , 



Pride bordering on Contempt. 

Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see 
Banger and disobedience in thine eye : 
O, Sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory, 
And majesty might never yet endure 
The moody frontier of a servant brow. 
You have good leave to leave us : when we need 
Your use and counsel, we shall send for you. 

Shakspeare Henry. IV, 



CONFIDENCE, COURAGE, BOASTING, 

Confidence is hope, elated by security of suc- 
cess in obtaining its object ; and courage is the 
contempt of any unavoidable danger in the ex- 
ecution of what is resolved upon : In both, the 
head is erect, the breast projected, the counte- 
nance clear and open, the accents are strong, 
round, and not too rapid ; the voice firm and 
even. Boasting exaggerates these appearances 



ELOCUTION. 4-15 

by loudness, blustering, and what is not unapt- 
ly called swaggering : The arms are placed 
a-kimbo, the foot stamped on the ground, the 
head drawn back with pride, the legs take large 
strides, and the voice swells into bombast. 



Confidence in one beloved. 

Base men that use them to so base effect ; 
But truer stars did govern Proteus' birth ; 
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles, 
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate, 
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart, 
His heart as far from frand as heav'n from earth. 

Shaksp. T-wo Gent, of Ver. 



Confidence of Success in Combat. 

Baling. O let no noble eye profane a tear 
For me, if I be gor'd with Mowbray's spear : 
As confident as is the faulcon's flight 
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight. — 
My loving lord, 1 take my leave of you ;•— 
Of you, my noble cousin, lord Aumerle; — 
Not sick, although I have to do with death; 
But lusty, young, and chearly drawing breath. — 
J iO as at English feasts, so I regret 
The daintiest last, to make the end most sweet. 
Oh thou, the earthly author of my blood, 
Whose useful spirit in me regenerate, 
Doth with a twofold vigour lift me up, 
To reach at victory above my head, — 
Add proof unto mine armour with my prayers, 
That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat, 
And furbish new the name of John of Gaunt, 
Even in the lusty 'haviour of his son. Shaksp. Rich If. 

Moivb. However heaven or fortune cast my lot, 
There lives or dies true to king Richard's throne, • 
A loyal, just, and upright gentleman ; 
tf ever did captives with a freer heart, 



4 16 ELEMENTS OF 

Ca,st off his chains of bondage, and embrace 

His golden, uncontrol'd enfranchisement, 

More than my dancing soul doth celebrate 

This feast of battle with mine adversary. — 

"Most mighty liege, — and my companion peers> 

Take from my mouth the wish of happy years : 

As gentle and as jocund, as to jest, 

Go I to fight, truth hath a quiet breast. Ibid, 



Firm determined Resolution in Battle-. 

I am satisfy'd : 
Csesar sits down in Alexandria, where 
i will oppose his fate. Our force by land 
Hath nobly held ; our sever'd navy, too, 
Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like. 
"Where hast thou been, my heart ? Dost thou hear, lady 
3 f from the field I should return once more, 
'To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood ; 
I and my sword will earn my chronicle ; 
There is hope in it yet : 
I* Will be trebk-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd-, 
And fight maliciously : for when mine hours 
Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives 
Of me for jests ; but now I'll set my teeth, 
Alid send to darkness ail that stop me. Ibid. «lnt\ & Clear 



Boasting indigjiant CJialtefige. 

Show me what thou'lt do : 
"Woo't weep ? woo't fight? woo't fast ? woo't tear thyself ; 
Woo't drink up esil ; eat a crocodile ? 
I'll do't — Do'st thou come here to whine, 
To outface me with leaping inner grave ? 
j?e buried quick with her, and so will I : 
And if thou prate of mountains, let them throw 
Millions of acres on us ; till our ground, 
Singing its pate against the burning zone, 
"Make Ossa like a wart ! Nay, an thou'lt mouth 
J il rant as well as thou. ''S/iafoJ). Hamlet* 






ELOCUTION. 



417 



PERPLEXITY, IRRESOLUTION, ANX- 
IETY. 

These emotions collect the body together as 
if for thoughtful consideration ; the eye-brows 
are contracted, the head hanging on the breast, 
the eyes cast downwards, the mouth shut, the 
lips pursed together. Suddenly the whole 
body alters its aspect, as having discovered some- 
thing, then falls into contemplation as before, the 
motions of the body are restless and unequal; 
sometimes moving quick, and sometimes slow ; 
the pauses in speaking are long, the tone of the 
voice uneven, the sentences broken and unfin- 
ished. 

Perplexity frem Temptation U Evil 

From thee ; even from thy virtue, — 
What's this ? what's this ? Is this her fault or mine ? 
The tempter or the tempted who sins most ? 
Not she ; nor doth she tempt ; but it is I, 
That lying by the violet in the sun, 
Do as the carrion does, not as the flower, 
Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be, 
That modesty may more betray our sense 
Than woman's lightness ? Having waste ground enough* 
Shall we desire to rase the sanctuary, 
And pitch our evils there ? Oh fie, fie, fie ! 
What dost thou ? or what art thou, Angelo ? 
Dost thou desire her foully for those things 
That make her good ? O let her brother live ; 
Thieves for their robbery, have authority 
When judges steal themselves. What! do I lave her^ 
That I desire to hear her speak again, 
And feast upon her eyes ? What is't I dream on I 



418 ELEMENTS OF 

Oh cunning enemy, that to catch a saint 

With saints do'st bait thy hook ! most dangerous 

Is that temptation that doth goad us on 

To sin in loving virtue. Shaks. Meas. for Meas. 

Perplexity from unexpected Events. 

Heaven for his mercy ! what a tide of woes 
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once ! 
I know not what to do i — I would to heav'n 
(So my untruth hath not provok'd him to it) 
The king hath out off my head with my brother's. — 
What are there posts dispatch'd for Ireland I — 
How shall we do for money for these wars ? 
Come, sister, — cousin I would say ; pray pardon me. 
- Go, fellow, get thee home, provide some carts, 
And bring awav the armour that is there. — 
Gentlemen, will you go to muster men ? If I know 
How, or which way, to order these affairs, 
Thus disorderly thrust into my hands, 
Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen: — 
The one's my sovereign, whom both my oath 
And duty bids defend ; the other again 
Is my kinsman, whom the king has wrong'd ; 
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right. 
Well, somewhat we must do — Come cousin, I'll 
Dispose of you : go muster up your men, 
And meet me presently at Berkley : Gentlemen, 
I should to Plashy too ; 
But time will not permit : — All is uneven, 
And every thing is left at six and seven. Ibid. Iiiclt. II, 

Perplexity, how to act on sudden Surprise. 

Yes ; — 'tis JEmilia : — by and by .—She's dead. 
'Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio's death ; 
The noise was high. — Ha ! no more moving ? 
Still as the grave.— Shall she come in, wer't good ? 
I think she stirs again. :— No.— What's the best, 
If she come in she'll sure speak to my wife. 

Shaksp. Othello. 

yEXxVnoN. 

Vexation, besides expressing itself with the 



ELOCUTION. 



419 



looks, gestures, tone, and restlessness of perplex - 
ity, adds to these, complaint, fretting, and 
remorse. 

Vexation at neglecting one's Duty, 

O what a rogue and peasant slave am I ! 
Is it not monstrous, that this player here, 
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, 
Could force his soul so to his own conceit, 
That from her working", all his visage warm'd, 
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, 
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting' 
With forms to his conceit ! and all for nothing ; 
For Hecuba ! 

What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 
That he should weep for her ? Ibid Hamlet, 

PEEVISHNESS. 

Peevishness is an habitual proneness to anger 
on every slight occasion, and may be called a 
lower degree of anger : it expresses itself there?.™ 
fore, like anger, but more moderately, with half 
sentences and broken speeches uttered hastily. 
The upper lip is disdainfully drawn up, and* tlie 
eyes are cast obliquely uppn the object of dis- 
pleasure. 

Troi What art thou angry, Pahdarus ? What with me ? 

Pan. Because she's akin to me ; therefore, she's not so i&ir as 
Helen ; an she were not kin to me, she would be as fair on Friday 
as Helen is on Sunday. But what care I ? I care not an 'she 
were a blackamoor, 'tis all one to me. 

Troi. Say I she is not fair ? 

Pan. I do not care whether you do or no. She's a fool to 
£tay behind her father: let. her to the Greeks — and so I'll tell her 
the next time I see her — for my part, I'll meddle nor make no 
more i'th' matter. 

Troi. Pandarus. — 



420 ELEMENTS OF 



Pan. Not T. 

Trot. Sweet Pandarus- 



Pan. Pray you speak no more to me — I will leave all as T 
found it — and there's an end. Shaksp. Troil. and Cress. 



ENVY. 

Envy is a mixture of joy, sorrow, and hatred : 
it is a sorrow arising from the happiness of others 
enjoying a good which we desire, and think we 
deserve, or a pleasure we receive upon their los- 
ing this good, for which we hated them. It is 
nearly akin to malice, but much more moderate 
in its tones and gestures. 



-Aside the devil turn'd, 



For envy, yet, with jealous leer malign, 

Ey'd them askance, and to himself thus plain'd. 

Sight hateful, sight tormenting ! thus these two, 
Jmparadis'd in one another's arms, 
The happier Eden shall enjoy their fill 
Of bliss on bliss : while 1 to hell am thrust, 
Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire, 
Among our other torments not the least, 
Still unfulfill'd. with pain of longing pines. 

Miiton's Parad. Lost. Book. i\\ o. 502. 



MALICE. 

Malice is an habitual malevolence long contin- 
ued, and watching occasion to exert itself on the 
hated object. This hateful disposition sets the 
jaws, or gnashes the teeth, sends blasting flashes 
from the eyes, stretches the mouth horizontals, 
clinches both the fists, and bends the elbows in 



ELOCUTION. 



421 



a straining manner to the body. The tone of 
voice and expression are much the same as in 
anger, but not so loud. 

How like a fawning publican he looks : 

I hate him, for he is a Christian, 

But more for that in low simplicity, 

He lends out money gratis, and brings down 

The rate of usance here with us in Venice. 

If I can catch him once upon the hip, 

I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 

He hates our sacred nation, and he rails 

Ev'n there, where merchants most do congregate. 

On me my bargains and. well-won thrift, 

Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe 

If I forgive him. Shaksp. Merch. of Vert, 

SUSPICION, JEALOUSY. 

Fear of another's endeavouring to prevent our 
attainment of the good desired, raises our suspi- 
cion; and suspicion of his having obtained, or of 
being likely to obtain it, raises or constitutes 
jealousy. Jealousy between the sexes is a fer- 
ment of love, hatred, hope, fear, shame, anxiety, 
grief, pity, envy, pride, rage, cruelty, venge- 
ance, madness, and every other tormenting 
passion which can agitate the human mind'* 
Therefore, to express jealousy well, one ought 
to know how to represent justly all these passions 
by turns, and often several of them together. 
Jealousy shows itself by restlessness, peevishness, 
thoughtfulness, anxiety, and absence of mind. 
Sometimes it bursts out into piteous complaint, 
and weeping; then a gleam of hope, that all is 
N n 



422 ELEMENTS OF 

yet well, lights up the countenance into a mo* 
mentary smile. Immediately the face, clouded 
with a general gloom, shews the mind overcast 
again with horrid suspicions and frightful imagi- 
nations. Thus the jealous man is a prey to the 
most tormenting feelings, and is alternately tan- 
talized by hope, and plunged into despair. 
Shakspeare, as if unable to express these feel- 
ings, makes Othello cry out, 

But Oh ! what damned minutes tells he o'er 
Who doats yet doubts, suspects yet strongly loves ! 

Surprise in Jealousy commencing. 

Think, my lord !— Oh heav'n he echoes me ! 
As if there were some monster in his thought 
Too hideous to be shown — Thou dost mean something ; 
I heard thee say but now — Thou lik'dst not that, 
When Cassio left my wife — What didst not like ? 
And when I told thee he was of my counsel 
In my whole course of wooing, thou cry'dst, indeed t 
And didst contract and purse thy brow together, 
As if thou hadst shut up within thy brain, 
Some horrible conceit : if thou do'st love me, 
Show me thy thought. Shaksp, Othello. 



Suspicion and Jealousy commencing. 

Leo. Too hot, too hot : 
To mingle friendship far, is mingling bloods. 
I have a tremor cordis on me:— my heart dances 
But not for joy, — not joy — This entertainment 
May a free face put on ; derive a liberty 
From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom, 
And well become the agent : it may, I grant ; 
But to be padling palms, and pinching fingers, 
As now they are ; and making practis'd smiles , 
As in a looking-glass ; and then to sigh as 'twere 
The nort o'the deer ; oh that is entertainment 






ELOCUTION. 



My bosom likes not, nor my brows ; 
-Mamilius- 



423 



Art thou my boy ? — Ibid. Winter's Tale. 

Jealousy increasing. 

Go to, go to. 
How she holds up the neb, the bill to him, 
And arms her with the boldness of a wife, 
To her allowing husband ! Gone already ; 
Inch-thick, knee deep, o'er head and ears a fork'd one.— 
Go, play, boy, play ;— thy mother plays, and I 
Play too, but so disgrac'd a part, whose issue, 
Will hiss me to my grave ; contempt and clamour 
Will be my knell. — Go, play, boy, play — 
There have been, 

Or I am much deceiv'd, cuckolds ere now, 
And many a man there is even at this present, 
Now while I speak this, holds his wife by the arm, 
That little thinks she hath been false in his absence. 

Shaksp. Winter's Tale. 

Attempt to hide Jealousy. 

Her. Are you mov'd, my lord ? 

Leo. No, in good earnest. — 
How sometimes nature will betray its folly, 
Its tenderness ; and make itself a pastime 
To harder bosoms ! looking on the lines 
Of my boy's face, methoughts, I did recoil 
Twenty -three years ; and saw myself unbreech'd, 
In my green velvet coat; my dagger muzzled, 
Lest it should bite its master, and so prove, 
As ornament oft does, too dangerous. — • 
How like, methought, I then was to this kernel, 
This squash, this gentleman : — Mine honest friend, 
Will you take eggs for money ? Ibidem . 

Jealousy confirmed. 

Dost think I am so muddy, so unsettled, 
To appoint myself in this vexation, sully 
The purity and whiteness of my bed 
Which to preserve is sleep ; which being spotted 
Is goads, thorns, nettles, tails of wasps > 



424 



ELEMENTS OF 



Cive scandal to the blood o'th' prince my son, 

Who I do think is mine, and love as mine, 

Without ripe moving to't ? Would I do this ? 

Could man so blench I Ibidem. 



Jealousy mixed with grief. 

How blest am I 
In my just censure ! in my true opinion ! — 
Alack for lesser knowledge ! — how accurs'd 
In being so bless'd ! There may be in the cup 
A spider steep'd, and one may drink, depart 
And yet partake no venom, for his knowledge 
Js not infected ; but if one present 
The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known 
How he hath drunk, he cracks his gorge, his sides ! 
With violent hefts. — I have drunk, and seen the spider ! 

Ibidem. 



Jealousy mixed ivith Rage and Regret. 

This fellow's of exceeding honesty, 
And knows all qualities with a learned spirit 
Of human dealings : if I do prove her haggard 
Though that her jesses were my dear heart -strin gs, 
I'd whistle her off and let her down the wind 
To prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black 
And have not those soft parts of conversation, 
That chamberers have, or far I am declin'd 
Into the vale of years — yet that's not much ; — 
vShe's gone, I am, abus'd and my relief 
Must be — to loath her. Oh the curse of marriage, 
That we can call these delicate creatures our's 
And not their appetites ! Shaksp. Othello 

MODESTY, SUBMISSION. 

Modesty is a diffidence of ourselves, accom- 
panied with delicacy in our sense of whatever is 
mean, indecent, or dishonourable ; or a fear of 
doing these things, or of having them imputed 



ELOCUTION. 425 

to us. Submission is an humble sense of our 
inferiority, and a quiet surrender of our powers 
to a superior. Modesty bends the body forward, 
has a placid, downcast countenance, levels the 
eyes to the breast, if not to the feet of the su- 
perior character : the voice is low, the tone sub- 
missive, and the words few. Submission adds 
to these a lower bending of the head, and a spread- 
ing of the arms and hands downwards towards 
the person we submit to. 

Modesty on being appointed to a high station. 

Now, good my lord, 
Let there be some more test of my metal, 
Before so noble, and so great a figure 
Be stamp'd upon it. Shaksp. Meas.Jor Meas. 

Submission on Forgiveness of Crime. 

O nobler sir ! 
Your over-kindness doth wring tears from me : 
I do embrace your offer, and dispose 
From henceforth of poor Claudio. Shahs. Much Jldo % &c. 

SHAME. 

Shame, or a sense of appearing to a disadvantage 
before one's own fellow- creatures, turns away the 
face from the beholders, covers it with blushes, 
hangs the head, oasts down the eyes, draws down 
and contracts the eye-brows. It either strikes 
the person dumb, or, if he attempts to say any 
thing in his own defence, causes his tongue to 
faulter, confounds his utteranee, and puts him 
N n2 



426 ELEMENTS OF 

upon making a thousand gestures and grimaces 
to keep himself in countenance ; all which only 
heighten his confusion and embarrassment. 

Shame at being convicted of a Crime. 

Oh my dread lord — 
I should be guiltier than my guiltiness, 
To think I can be undiscernible 
When I perceive your grace like power divine, 
Hath look'd upon my passes ; then, good prince, 
No longer session hold upon my shame, 
But let my trial be mine own confession : 
Immediate sentence then, and sequent death, 
Is all the grace I beg. Ibid. Mens, for Jleas. 

GRAVITY. 

Gravity, or seriousness, as when the mind is 
fixed, or deliberating on some important sub- 
ject, smooths the countenance, and gives it an 
air of melancholy ; the eye -brows are lowered, 
eyes cast downwards, the mouth almost shut, ana 
sometimes a little contracted. The posture of 
the body and limbs is composed, and without 
much motion: the speech slow and solemn, the 
tone without much variety. 

Grave Deliberation on War and Peace. 

Fathers, we once r.jdn are met in council : 
Caesar's approach has summon'd us together, 
And Rome attends her fate from our resolves. 
How shall we treat this bold aspiring man ? 
Success still follows him, and backs his crimes : 
Pharsalia gave him Rome. JEgypt has since 
Receiv'd his yoke, and the whole Nile is Csesar's. 
Why should I mention Juba's overthrow, 
Or Scipio's death ? Numidia's burning sands. 



ELOCUTION. 



427 



Still smoke with blood ; 'Tis time we should decree 

What course to take ; our foe advances on us, 

And envies us even Lybia's sultry desarts. 

Fathers, pronounce your thoughts ; are they still fix'd 

To hold it out and fight it to the last ? 

Or are your hearts subdu'd at length, and wrought, 

By time and ill success, to a submission ? 

Sempronius, speak. Addison's Cat&. 



INQUIRY. 

Inquiry into some difficult subject, fixes the 
body nearly in one posture, the head somewhat 
stooping, the eyes poring, and the eye-brows 
contracted. 

Inquiry mixed tvilh Suspicion. 

Pray you, once more — 
Is not your father grown incapable 
Of reas'nable affairs ? is he not stupid 
With age and altering rheums ? Can he speak, hear, 
Know man from man, dispute his own estate ? 
Lies he not bed-rid, and again does nothing 
]Jut what he did being childish ? Shahsp. Winter s Tale, 



ATTENTION. 

Attention to an esteemed or superior character 

'lias nearly the same aspect as Inquiry, and re* 

quires silence ; the eyes often cast down upon 

the ground ; sometimes fixed upon the face of 

tlic speaker, but not too familiarly. 



428 ELEMENTS OF 

TEACHING OR INSTRUCTING. 

Teaching, explaining, or inculcating, requires 
a mild serene air, sometimes approaching 
to an authoritative gravity ; the features 
and gesture altering according to the age 
or dignity of the pupil, and importance of 
the subject inculcated. To youth it should be 
mild, open, serene, and condescending ; to equals 
and superiors, modest, and diffident ; but when 
the subject is of great dignity or importance, the 
air and manner of conveying the instruction ought 
to be firm and emphatical, the eye steady and 
open, the eye-brow a little drawn down over h% 
but not so much as to look surly or dogmatical ; 
the pitch of voice ought to be strong, steady, 
and clear, the articulation distinct, the utterance 
slow, and the manner approaching to confidence. 

Instruction to modest Youth. 

Pol. Wherefore, gentle maiden, 
Do you neglect your gilly-flowers and carnations I 

Per. I have heard it said, 
There is an art which in their piedness shares 
With great creating nature. 

Pol. Say there be, 
Yet nature is made better by no mean, 
But nature makes that mean ; so over that art 
Which you say adds to nature, is an art 
Which nature makes ; you see, sweet maid, we marry 
A gentler scyon to the wildest stock ; 
And make conceive a bark of baser kind 
By bud of nobler race. This is an art 
Which does mend nature, change it rather ; but 
The art itself is nature. Shakspeare's Winter's Tale. 



ELOCUTION. 

Instruction to an Inferior. 



429 



Angelo — 
There is a kind of character in thy life, 
That to the observer doth thy history 
Fully unfold : Thyself and thy belongings 
Are not thine own so proper, as to waste 
Thyself upon thy virtues, them on thee. 
Heav'n doth with us as we with torches do, 
Not light them for themselves : for if our virtues 
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all as if 
We had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd 
But to fine issues; nature never lends 
The smallest scruple of her excellence ; 
But like a thrifty goddess she determines 
Herself the glory of a creditor, 
Both thanks and use. But I do bend my speech 
To one that can in my part me advertise. 
Hold therefore, Angelo — 
In our remorse be thou at full ourself- 
Mortality and mercy in Vienna 
Live in thy tongue and heart : Old Escalus, 
Though first in question, is thy secondary : 
Take thy commission. ' Shaksp. Meas. for Meas. 



ARGUING. 

Arguing, requires a cool, sedate, attentive as- 
pect, and a clear, slow, and emphatical accent, 
with much demonstration by the hand ; it as- 
sumessomewhat of authority, as if fully con- 
vinced of what it pleads for, and sometimes rises 
to great vehemence and energy of assertion; the 
voice clear, distinct, and firm, as in confidence. 



Reasoning -with deference to others. 

Ay, but yet 

Let us be keen, and rather cut a little, 



430 ELEMENTS OF 

Than fall and bruise to death. Alas ! this gentleman 

Whom I would save had a most noble father ! 

Let but your honour know, whom I believe 

To be most straight in virtue, whether in 

The working of your own affections, 

Had time coher'd with place, or place with wishing, 

Or that the resolute acting of j-our blood 

Could have attain'd th* effect of your own purpose, 

Whether you had not some time in your life 

Err'd in this point you censure now in him, 

And pulled the law upon you. Shaksp. Meets, for Meas 



Reasoning ivarmly. 

By my white beard, 
You offer him, if this be so, a wrong, 
Something unfilial : Reason, my son, 
Should choose himself a wife ; but as good reason, 
The father, (all whose joy is nothing else 
But fair posterity) should hold some counsel 
In such a business. Ibid. Winter's Tale, 



Argument asserting right to Property. 

As I was banish'd I was banish'd Hereford ; 
But as I come, I come for Lancaster : 
And noble uncle, I beseech your grace, 
Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye : 
You are my father, for, methinks, in you 
I see old Gaunt alive ; O, then, my father ! 
Will you permit that I should stand condemn'd 
A wandering vagabond ; my rights and loyalties 
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away 
To upstart spendthrifts ? Wherefore was I born ? 
If that my cousin king be king of England, 
It must be granted, I am duke of Lancaster. 
You have a son, Aumerle, my noble kinsman; 
Had you first dy'd, and he been thus trod down, 
He should have found his uncle Gaunt a father, 
To rouse his wrongs, and chase them to the bay. 
I am deny'd to sue my livery here, 
And yet my letters-patent give and leave ; 



ELOCUTION. 



431 



My Father's goods are all distrain'd and sold ; 

And these, and all are all amiss employ'd, 

What would you have me do ? I am a subjeot, 

And challenge law : Attorneys are deny'd me ; 

And therefore personally lay the claim 

To my inheritance of free descent. Shaksfi. Rich. ll. 



ADMONITION. 

Admonition assumes a grave air, bordering m\ 
severity; the head is sometimes shaken at the 
person we admonish, as if we felt for the mise- 
ries he was likely to bring upon himself; the 
right hand is directed to the person spoken to, 
and the fore-finger, projected from the Test, 
seems to point more particularly the danger we 
give warning of ; the voice assumes a low tone, 
bordering on a monotone, with a mixture of se- 
verity and sympathy, of pity and reproach. 

Admonition to execute Laxvs strictly. 

'Tis one thing- to be tempted, Escalus, 
Another thing to fall. I not deny 
The jury passing on the prisoner's life, 
May on the sworn twelve have a thief or two, 
Guiltier than him they try ; what's open made 
To justice, that it seizes on. What know 
The laws that thieves do pass on thieves \ 'tis pregnant, 
The jewel that we find, we stoop and tak't, 
Because we see it ; but what we do not see, 
We tread upon, and never think of it. 
You may not so extenuate his offence, 
For I have had such faults ; but rather tell me 
When I, that censure him, da not so offend, 
Let mine own judgement pattern out my death, 
And nothing come in partial. He must die. 

&haksp. JWeas^for Meas> 



432 ELEMENTS OF 

•Admonition to beware of Complaisance in Friendship. 

Every note, Lucilius, 
When love begins to sicken and decay, 
It useth an enforced ceremony. 
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith : 
Bat hollow men, like horses hot at hand, 
Make gallant shew, and promise of their mettle : 
But when they should endure the bloody spur, 
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, 
Sink in their trial. Comes his army on ? Ibid. TuL Cc*. 



Admonition to act justly. 

Remember March, the ides of March remethber ! 
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake 
What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 
And not for justice ? What shall one of us, 
That struck the foremost man of all this world', 
But for supporting robbers ; shall we now 
Contaminate our lingers with base bribes ? 
And sell the mighty space of our lai'ge honours;, 
For so much trash, as may be grasped thus ? — 
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 
Than such a Roman. Ibid. JuB Cies. 



AUTHORITY. 

Authority opens the countenance, but draws 
down the eye-brows a little, so as to give the look 
an air of gravity. 



Authority forbidding Combatants to fight. 

Let them lay by their helmets and their spears, 
And both return back to their chairs again : — 
Withdraw from us, and let the trumpet sound 
While we return these dukes what we decree. 
Braw near 



ELOCUTION. 



433 



And list what with our council we have done. 

For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd 

With that dear blood which it hath foster'd ; 

And for our eyes doth hate the dire aspect 

Of civil wounds, plough'd up with neighbour's swords, 

Therefore we banish you our territories : 

You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of death, v 

Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields, 

Shall not regret our fair dominions, 

But tread the stranger paths of banishment. Ibid, Richard II, 



COMMANDING. 

Commanding requires an air a little more 
peremptory, with a look little severe, or stern. 
The hand is held out, and moved towards the 
person to whom the order is given, with the palm 
upwards, and sometimes it is accompanied by a 
nod of the head to the person commanded. If 
v the command be absolute, and to a person un- 
willing to obey, the right hand is extended and 
projected forcibly towards the person command- 
ed* 



Commanding Combatants to fight. 



We were not born to sue, but to command ; 
Which since we cannot do to make you friends, 
Be ready as your lives shall answer it, 
At Coventry, upon St. Lambert's day ; 
There shall your swords and lances arbitrate 
The swelling difference of your settled hate. 
Since we cannot stone you, you shall see 
Justice decide the victor's chivalry. 
Lord Marshal, command our officers at arms, 
Be ready to direct these home alarms. Shaksp. Rich. II 



p o 



434 ELEMENTS OF 

FORBIDDING. 

Forbidding, draws the head backwards, and 
pushes the arm and hand forwards, with the palm 
downwards, as if going to lay it upon the person, 
and hold him down immoveable, that he may not 
do what is forbidden him : the countenance has 
the air of aversion, the voice is harsh, and the 
manner peremptory. 

Forbidding to break Ordert. 

On pain of death no person be so bold 
Or daring hardy as to touch the lists, 
Except the marshal, and such officers 
Appointed to direct these fair designs. Ibidem. 

AFFIRMING. 

Affirming, with a judicial oath, is expressed 
by hriing the right hand and eyes towards heav- 
en ; or it conscience is appealed to, by laying the 
rigut hand open upon the breast exactly upon 
the heart ; the voice low and solemn, tne words 
slow and deliberate ; but when the affirmation is 
mixed with rage or resentment, the voice is 
more open and loud, the words quicker, and the 
countenance has an the confidence of strong and 
peremptory assertion. 

Affirming an Accusation, 

My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue 
Scorns to unsay what once it hath deliver'd : 



ELOCUTION. 



435 



In that dead time when Gloster's death was plot, 
I heard you say, — " Is not my arm of length 
" That reacheth from the restful English court, 
*' As far as Calais to my uncle's head ? 
Among much other talk, that very time 
I heard you say, you rather had refuse 
The offer of a hundred thousand crowns 
Than Bolingbroke return to England : 
Adding withal, how blest this land would be, 
In this your cousin's death. 
If that thy valour stand on sympathies, 
There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine. 
1 heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it, 
That thou wert cause of noble Gloster's death ? 
If thou deny'st it twenty times, thou liest ; 
And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart 
"Where it was forged, with my rapier's point. 

Shakspeare's Rich. II. 



DENYING. 

Denying what is affirmed is but an affirmation 
of the contrary, and is expressed like affirmation. 
Denying a favour — see Re f u s i n g . 



Denying an Accusation. 

If I in act consent, or sin of thought, 
Be guilty of stealing that sweet breath, 
Which was embounded in that beauteous clay, 
Let hell want pains enough to torture me ! 
1 left him well. Shaksp. King John, 



DIFFERING, 

Differing in sentiment may be expressed 
nearly as refusing. See Refusing. 



436 ELEMENTS OF 

Differing about the conduct of a War. 

Bru. Well, to our work alive. What do you think 
Of marching to Philippi presently ? 

Cas. I do not think it good. 

Bru. Your reason ? 

Cas. This it is : 
'lis better that the enemy seek us, 
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 
Doing himself offence ; whilst we lying still, 
Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. 

Bru. Good Teasons must of force give place to better. 
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground, 
Do stand but in a forc'd affection : 
For they have grudg'd us contribution. 
The enemy marching along by them, 
By them shall make a fuller number up, 
Come on refresh'd, new added, and encouraged ; 
From which advantage shall we cut him off, 
If at Philippi we do face him there, 
These people at our backs. 

Cas. Hear me, good brother 

Bru. Under your pardon. — You must note beside. 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brimfull, our cause is ripe ; 
The enemy increaseth every day, 
We, at the height are ready to decline. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 
On such a full sea are we now afloat, 
And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures. Shakspeare's Jul. €<e$ 

AGREEING. 

Agreeing in opinion, or being convinced, is 
e xpressed nearly as granting. See Granting. 

Agreeing in an enterprise. 

Post. I embrace these conditions ; let us have articles be- 
wixt us ; orly thus far you shall answer, if you make your ad- 



ELOCUTION. 437 

* \ 
dresses to her, and give me directly to understand you have pre- 
vailed, I am no farther your enemy, she is not worth our debate. 
If she re main unseduced, you not making- it appear otherwise ; 
for your ill opinion, and the assault you have made to her chas- 
tity, you shall answer me with your sword. 

Jac. Your hand, a covenant; we will have these thin ft 
set down by lawful counsel, and straightway for Britain, lest the 
bargain should catch cold and starve. I will fetch my gold, -and 
have our two wagers recorded. Ibid. Cymbeline. 

JUDGING. 

Judging, demands a grave steady look, with 
deep attention, the countenance altogether clear 
from any appearance, either of disgust or favour. 
The pronunciation slow, distinct, and em- 
phatical, accompanied with little action, and that 
very grave. 

Judging- according- to strict Lara. 

Her. I beseech your grace that I may know, 
The worst that may befal me in this case, 
If I refuse to wed Demetrius. 

Thes. Either to die the death, or to abjure 
For ever the society of men. , 
Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires, 
Know of your youth, examine well your blood, 
Whether not yielding to your father's) choice, 
You can endure the livery of a nun, 
For aye to be in shady cloister me w'd, 
To live a barren sister all your life. 
Chanting faint hymns to the cold, fruitless moon. 
Thrice blessed they that master so their blood, 
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage ! 
But earlier happy is the rose distill'd 
Than that which withering on the virgin thorn, 
Grows, lives, and dies in singie blessedness. 

Her. So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, 
Ere I will yield up my virginity 
Unto his lordship, to whose unwish'd yoke 

Oo2 



438 



ELEMENTS OF 



My soul consents not to give sovereignty. 

Thes. Take time to pause, and by the next new moon, 
(The sealing day betwixt my love and me, 
For everlasting bond of fellowship) 
Upon that day either prepare to die 
For disobedience to your father's will, 
Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would, 
Or on Diana's altar to protest 
For aye austerity and single life. 

Shaksp. Mills. Nigh?* Bream* 

REPROVING. 

Reproving, puts on a stern aspect, roughens 
the. voice, and is accompanied with gestures, not 
much different from those of threatening, but 
not so lively. It is like Reproach, but without 
the sourness and ill-nature. See Re p r o Jit n . 

Reproving -with Authority. 

How comes it, Cassio, you are thus forgot, 
That you unlace your reputation thus, 
And spend your rich opinion for the name, 
Of a night brawler ? Give me answer to it. Shaksp. Othelfa- 

ACQUITTING. 

Acquitting, is performed with a benevolent 
tranquil countenance, and mild tone of voice ; 
the right hand is open, and waved gently towards 
the person acquitted, expressing dismission. 
See Dismissing. 

CONDEMNING. 

Condemning, assumes a severe look, but 
sometimes mixed with pity. The sentence is 



EL0CUT10K 



439 



either with severity or pity, according to the 
guilt of the person condemned. 



Passing sentence with severity. 



For tills new marry'd man, approaching here, 
Whose salt imagination yet hath wrong'd 
Your well defended honour ; you must pardon him 
For Mariana's sake ; but as a judge, 
Being doubly criminal, in violation 
Of sacred chastity, and in promise breach, 
Thereon dependant for your brothers life, 
The very mercy of the law cries out 
Most audible, even from his proper tongue, 
An Angelo for Claudio; death for death. 
Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure ; 
Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure. 
Then, Angelo, thy faults are manifest ; 
Which, tho* thou would'st deny 'em, deny thee 'vantage. 
We do condemn thee to the very block 
Where Claudio stoop'd to death and with like hate, 
Away with him. Sharcsp. Mens •for Metis. 



Passing sentence -with pity and reluctance. 

God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence : 
You have conspir'd against our royal person, 
Join'd with an enemy, and from his coffers 
Receiv'd the golden earnest of our death ; 
Wherein you have sold your kin to slaughter, 
His princes and his peers to servitude. 
His subjects to oppression and contempt, 
And his whole kingdom into desolation. 
Touching our person, seek we no revenge ; 
But we our kingdom's safety must so tender, 
Whose ruin you three sought, that to her laws 
We do deliver you. Go therefore hence, . 
Poor miserable wretches, to your death, 
The taste whereof God of his mercy give 
You patience to endure, and true repentance 
Of all your dire offences. Bear them hence. XhiA. J&nry V- 



440 ELEMENTS OF 

PARDONING. 



... 



Pardoning, differs from acquitting in this 
the latter means clearing a person after trial of 
guilt, whereas the former supposes guilt, and 
signifies merely delivering the guilty person 
from punishment,, Pardoning requires some 
degree of severity of aspect and tone of voice, 
because the pardoned person is not an object 
of entire unmixed approbation. 

Pardoning a cruel Prosecution. 

That thou may'st see the difference of our spirits, 
1 pardon thee thy life before thou ask it : 
For half thy wealth, it is Anthonio's ; 
The other half comes to the general state 
Which humblenss may drive into a fine. Shaksp. Merc, of Yen. 

DISMISSING. 

Dismissing with approbation is done with a 
kind aspect and tone of voice : the right open, 
the palm upward, gently waved towards the per- 
son. Dismissing with displeasure, besides ^the 
look and tone of voice which suits displeasure, 
the hand is hastily thrown out towards the per- 
son dismissed, the back part of the hand towards 
him, and the countenance at the same time 
turned away from him. 

Dismissing -with complaisance. 

Chat. Then take my king's defiance from my mouth, 
Tiie farthest limit of my embassy. 



ELOCUTION. 441 

K. John. Bear mine to him, and so dtpart in peace : 
Be thou as lightning 1 in the eyes of France, 
For ere thou canst report I will be there, 
The thunder of my cannon shall be heard ; 
So hence ! Be thou as the trumpet of our wrath, 
And sullen presage of your own decay. — 
An honourable conduct let him have ; — 
Pembroke, look to't ; — farewell, Chatillon. 

Ibid. King John. 

REFUSING. 

Refusing, when accompanied with displea- 
sure, is done nearly the same way as dismissing 
with displeasure. Without displeasure, it is 
done with a visible reluctance, which occasions 
bringing out the words slowly, with such a shake 
of the head, and shrug of the shoulders, and hes- 
itation in the speech, as implies perplexity be- 
tween granting and refusing, as in the following 
example : 

He/using to lend Money. 

They answer in a joint and corporate voice, 
That now they are at fall, want treasure, cannot 
Do what they would; are sorry — you are honorable — ■ 
But yet they could have wish'd — they know not — 
Something hath been amiss — a noble nature 
May catch a wrench — wou'd all were well — 'tis pity ; 
And so intending other serious matters, 
After distasteful looks and these hard fractions 
With certain half caps, and cold-moving nods, 
They froze me into silence. Shaksp. Timon of Athens, 

Refusing -with displeasure. 

Met. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar, 
Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat 
An humble heart. 

C#s. I must prevent thee, Cimber j 



442 



ELEMENTS OF 



These crouchings, and these lowly courtesiei 

Might fire the blood of ordinary men, 

And turn pre-ordinance, and first decree 

Into the lane of children. Be not fond, 

To think thai Caesar bears such rebel blood, 

That will be thamrM from the true quality 

With that which melteth fools ; I mean sweet words 

Low-crooked curt'sies, and base spaniel fawning-. 

Thy brother by decree is banish'd ; 

If thou dost bend, and pray, and fawn for him, 

I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. 

Know, Caesar doth not wrong-, nor without cause 

Will he be satisfied. Shuksp. Jul. Cx». 



GIVING, GRANTING. 

When done with unreserved good- will, is ac- 
companied with a benevolent aspect, and tone of 
voice : the right hand open, with the palm up- 
wards, extending towards the person we favour, 
as if delivering to him what he asks ; the head at 
the same time inclining forwards, as indicating 
a benevolent disposition and entire consent. 



Giving a daughter in Marriage. 

Pros. If I have too severely punished you, 
Your compensation makes amends ; for I 
Have given you here a thread of mine own life, 
Or that for which I live, whom once again 
1 tender to thy hand : ail thy vexations 
Were but nry trials of thy love, and thou 
Hast strangely stood the test. Here afore heav'n 
1 ratify this my rich gift : Ferdinand, 
Do not smile at me that I boast her off; 
For thou wilt find she will outstrip all praise, 
And make it halt behind her. 

Fer. I believe it 
Against an oracle. 



ELOCUTION. 443 

Pros. Then as ray gift and thine own acquisition 
Worthily purchas'd, take my daughter. Shaksp. Tempest. 



GRATITUDE. 

Gratitude, puts on an aspect full of compla- 
cency. If the object of it be a character greatly 
superior, it expresses much submission. The 
right hand open with the fingers spread, and 
pressed upon the breast just over the heart, ex- 
presses very properly a sincere and hearty sensi- 
bility of obligation. 

Gratitude for great Benefits. 

O great Sciolto ! O my more than father ! 
Let me not live, but at thy very name 
My eager heart springs up and leaps with joy. 
When I forget the vast, vast debt i owe thee— - 
(Forget — but 'tis impossible) then let me 
Forget the use and privilege of reason, 
Be banish'd from the commerce of mankind, 
To wander in the desert among brutes, 
To bear the various fury of the seasons, 
The midnight cold, and moon-tide scorching heat, 
To be the scorn of earth, and curse of-heaven. 

Rotve's Fair Penitent. 



CURIOSITY. 

Curiosity, opens the eyes and mouth, length- 
ens the neck, bends the body forwards, and fix- 
es it in one posture, nearly as in admiration. 
When it speaks, the voice, tone, and gesture, 
nearly as Inquiry. See Inquiry. 



444 



ELEMENTS OF 



Curiosity at first seeing' a fine Object. * 



Pros. The fringed curtains of thine eye adrance, 
And say what thou seest yond. 

Mir. What ! is't a spirit ? 
Lo how it looks about ! beliere, sir, 
It carries> brave form. But 'tis a spirit. 

Pros. No, wench, it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses 
As we have, such. 

Mir. I might call him 
A thing divine, for nothing natural, 

ever saw so noble. Shaksp. Tempest. 



PROMISING. 

Promising, is expressed by benevolent looks, 
a soft but earnest voice, and sometimes by in- 
clining the head, and hands open, with the palms 
upwards, towards the person to whom the prom- 
ise is made. Sincerity in promising is expres- 
sed by laying the hand gently on the left breast. 

Premise of prosperous Events. 

I'll deliver all, 
And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales. 
And sail so expeditious, it shall catch 
Your royal fleet far off. ' Ihidem. 

VENERATION. 

To parents, superiors, or persons of eminent 
virtue, is an humble and respectful acknowledge- 
ment of their excellence, and our own inferiori- 
ty. The head and body is inclined a little for- 
ward, and the hand, with the palm downward, 



ELOCUTION. 445 

just raised as to meet the inclination of the body, 
and then let fall again with apparent timidity and 
diffidence; the eye is sometimes lifted up, and 
then immediately cast downward, as if unwor- 
thy to behold the object before it ; the eye- 
brows are drawn down ; the features, and the 
whole body and limbs, are all composed to the 
most profound gravity. When this rises to ado- 
ration of the Almighty Creator and Director of 
all things, it is too sacred to be imitated, and 
seems to demand that humble annihilation of 
ourselves, which must ever be the consequence 
of a just sense of the Divine Majesty, and our 
own unworthjness. 



RESPECT, 

Is but a less degree of veneration^ and is near- 
ly allied to modesty. 



DESIRE, 

Expresses itself by bending the body forwards, 
and stretching the arms towards the object, as 
to grasp it. The countenance smiling but eager 
and wishful ; the eyes wide open, and eye-brows 
raised ; the mouth open ; the tone of. voice sup- 
pliant,, but lively and chearful, unless there be 
distress as well as desire ; the expressions fluent 



446 



ELEMENTS OF 



and copious ; if no words are used sighs instead 
of them ; but this is chiefly in distress. 



COMMENDATION. 

Commendation is the expression of the appro- 
bation we have for any object in which we find 
any congruity to our ideas of excellence, 
natural, or moral, so as to communicate plea- 
sure. As commendation generally supposes su- 
periority in the person commending it assumes 
the aspect of love, (but without desire and res- 
pect, ) and expresses itself in a mild tone of voice, 
with a small degree of confidence ; the arms are 
gently spread, the hands open, with the palms 
upwards, directed towards the person approved, 
and sometimes gently lifted up and down, as if 
pronouncing his praise. 

Commendation for obliging Behaviour. 

You have done our pleasures very much grace, fair ladies. 
Set a fair fashion on our entertainment, 
Which was not half so beautiful and kind ; 
You've added worth unto't, and lively lustre, 
And entertain'd me with mine own device : 
I am to thank you for it. Timon of Aiken*. 

Commendation for Fidelity. 

O good old man, how well in thee appears 
The constant service of the antique world, 
When service sweat for duty, not for meed I 






ELOCUTION. 



447 



Thou art not for the fashion of these times, 

Where none will sweat but for promotion ; 

And having- that, do choak their service up, 

Even with the having: : It is not so with thee. As You Like It. 



EXHORTING. 

Exhorting*, or encouraging, is earnest persua- 
sion, attended with confidence of success. The 
voice has the softness of love intermixed with 
the firmness of courage ; the arms are some- 
times spread, with the hands open, as intreating ; 
and sometimes the right hand is lifted up, and 
struck rapidly down, as enforcing what we say. 

Exhorting. 

But wherefore do you droop ? Why look you sad ? 
Be great in act as you have been in thought ; 
Let not the world see fear and sad distrust 
Govern the motion of a kingly eye ': 
Be stirring as the time ; be fire with fire ; 
Threaten the threatener, and outface the brow 
Of bragging- horror : so shall inferior eyes, 
That borrow their behaviours from the great, 
Grow great by your example ; and put on 
The dauntless spirit of resolution ; 
Show boldness and aspiring confidence. 
What, shall they seek the lion in his den, 

.And fight him there, and make him tremble there ? 

Oh let it not be said ! — Forage, and run, 

To meet displeasure farther from the doors, 

And grapple with him ere he come so nigh. Shahsp. K. John, 

COMPLAINING, 

Complaining, as when one is under violent 
bodily pain, distorts the features, almost closes 



448 ELEMENTS OF 

the eyes ; sometimes raises them wistfully ; 
opens the mouth, gnashes the teeth, draws up 
the upper lip, draws down the head upon the 
breast, and contracts the whole body. The 
arms are violently bent at the elbows, and the fists 
strongly clinched. The voice is uttered in 
groans, lamentations, and sometimes vioLent 
screams. 



Complaining »f extreme Pain. 

Search there ; nay, probe me ; search my wounded reins- 
Pull, draw it out — 

Oh, I am shot ! A forked burning arrow 
Sticks across my shoulders : the sad venom flies 
Like light'ning through my flesh, my hiood, my marrow. 
Ha ! what a change of torments I endure ! 
A bolt of ice runs hissing through my bowels : 
'Tis, sure, the arm of death; give me a chair; 
Cover me, for I freeze, and my teeth chatter, 
And my knees knock together. Lee's Alexander. 



FATIGUE. 

Fatigue from hard labour gives a general lan- 
guor to the body ; the countenance is dejected, 
the arms hang listless ; the body, if not sitting 
or lying along, stoops, as in old age ; the legs, 
if walking, are dragged heavily along, and seem 
at every step to bend under the weight of the 
body. The voice is weak, and hardly articulate 
§noiigh to be understood. 



ELOCUTION, 



44$ 



Fatigue from travelling'. 



I see a man*s life is a tedious one : 

I've tir'd myself, and for two nights together 

Have made the ground my bed. I should be sickj 

Bat that my resolution helps me. Milford, 

When from the mountain top Pisanio show'd thee, 

Thou wast within a ken. Oh me, I think 

loundations fly the wretched ; such I mean 

Where they should be relieved. Shahspeare' s CymbeMne* 



Feebleness from Hunger. 

Adam. Dear master, I can go no farther t Oh, I die for food! 
here lie 1 down and measure out my grave. Farewell, kind 
master. 

Duke. Welcome : set down your venerable burden, 
And iet him feed. 

Orla. I thank you most for him. 

Jidum. So had you need ; 
I scarce can speak to thank you for myself. 

Ibid. As Y9U lake It, 



SICKNESS. 

Sickness has infirmity or feebleness in every 
motion, and utterance ; the eyes dim and al- 
most closed, the cheeks are pale and hollow, the 
jaw falls, the head hangs down as if too heavy to 
be supported by the neck ; the voice feeble, 
trembling and plaintive, the head shaking, and 
the whole body, as it were sinking under the 
weight that oppresses it. 

Sickness approaching to Death. 

And wherefore should this good news make me sick I 
1 should rejoice now at this nappy news, 



450 



ELEMENTS OF 



And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy : — 

me ! come near me now I am much ill. 

1 pray you lake me up and bear me hence 
Into some other chamber ; softl), pray — 

Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends, 
Unless some dull and favourable hand 
Will whisper music to my weary spirit. 

Shaksp. Henry IV. 2nd JPxirt. 

Trfling as this selection of examples of the pas- 
sions may appear, it is presumed it will be sin- 
gularly useful. The passions are every where to 
be found in small portions, promiscuously min- 
gled with each other, but not so easily met with 
in examples of length, and where one passion 
only operates at a time ; Such a selection, how- 
ever, seemed highly proper to facilitate the study 
of the passions, as it is evident that the expres- 
sion of any passion may be sooner gained by con- 
fining our practice for a considerable time to one 
passion only, as by passing abruptly from one to 
the other, as they promiscuously occur ; which 
is the case with the author to whom I am so 
much indebted for the description of the Pas- 
sions, and with those who have servilely copied 
him. The instances of a single passion which I 
have selected, may be augmented at pleasure ; 
and when the pupil has acquired the expression 
of each passion singly, I would earnestly recom- 
mend to him to analyze his composition, and 
carefully to mark it with the several passions, 
emotions, and sentiments it contains, by which 
means he will distinguish and separate what is 
often mixed and confounded, and be prompted 
to force and variety at almost ever}- sentence. 



ELOCUTION, 



451 



I am well aware, that the passions are some- 
times so slightly touched, and often melt so in- 
sensibly into each other, as to make it some- 
what difficult precisely to mark their boundaries ; 
but this is no argument against our marking them 
where they are distinct and obvious ; nor against 
our suggesting them to those who may not be 
quite so clear-sighted as ourselves. Indeed, the 
objection to this practice seems entirely founded 
on these two misconceptions : because we can- 
not perfectly delineate every shade of sound or 
passion, we ought not to attempt any approaches 
to them ; and because good readers and speak- 
ers have no need of these assistances, therefore 
they are useless to every one else. But this rea- 
soning, I am convinced, is so palpably wrong, 
as sufficiently to establish the contrary opinion, 
without any other argument in its favour. 



THE END, 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 249 718 7 




